LAKKI MARWAT: Two police personnel and a civilian embraced martyrdom and a traffic warden sustained bullet injuries in three militant attacks in Lakki Marwat district.

According to the police, 40-year-old head constable Younas Khan and his 46-year-old friend Asmatullah lost their lives when armed motorcyclists attacked them near the Paharkhel Thall area.

“As soon as Younas Khan and Asmatullah riding a motorcycle reached Manjiwala link road from Paharkhel Thall village, two armed motorcyclists opened fire on them,” a police official said, adding the attackers took away the head constable’s weapon.

“The martyred head constable had received threats from affiliates of the banned Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan,” the official quoted a local resident as telling the police.

Third attack on police in the district over last one week

The bodies were shifted to Government City Hospital. Police cordoned off the area and launched a search operation.

Traffic warden Farmanullah sustained injuries in an attack by armed motorcyclists near the Tehsil Municipal Administration office in Lakki city.

“The attackers escaped and the injured cop was taken to Government City Hospital. His condition is stable,” a police officer said.

In yet another incident, a constable embraced martyrdom and an additional station house officer (SHO) sustained injuries in an attack in Bhittani subdivision of Lakki Marwat district late on Thursday night.

According to officials, a team of the Shadikhel Police Station was on its way to the Wargarey Police Station to assist their colleagues who were attacked by a group of terrorists. They were about to reach the site when they came under attack within the limits of Shadikhel Police Station.

An official said the attack left constable Samiullah martyred and additional SHO Habibullah wounded. “The body of the cop and the wounded police officer were shifted to a hospital in the Tajori area from where the injured was shifted to Bannu district,” the official said, adding the body was later shifted to the Police Lines.

It was the third attack on the police in Lakki Marwat district over the last one week. Last Sunday, a terrorist was killed and a police constable martyred when terrorists attacked a police check-post in the Shahbazkhel area of the district.

Published in Dawn, january 7th, 2023