An assistant sub-inspector (ASI) of police was martyred and two constables were injured in a grenade attack in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Swabi district on Friday, police said.

According to a statement by Swabi police, ASI Sahir Khan and Constables Gul Nasib and Ijaz were performing beat duties in Yar Hussain Bazaar before Iftar to ensure the smooth flow of traffic in the area and avoid any untoward incident.

From there, they left for Yar Hussain Police Station for Iftar, the statement said, adding that “unknown accused/militants” threw a hand grenade inside their car while they were on their way.

According to police, the incident occurred at 6:24pm and ASI Khan was martyred in the attack.

The police statement said Constable Nasib sustained “serious injuries” and was moved to Mardan Medical Complex for treatment while Constable Ijaz suffered minor injuries.

Police have initiated a search operation in the area for the arrest of the “militants”, the statement added.

In January, a policeman was injured when unidentified assailants had hurled grenades at Yar Hussain police station.

District Police Officer captain (retired) Najamul Hussain had said at the time that it was the first attack on a police station in the district following a rise in terror attacks by banned militant group Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan in KP.