Two policemen were martyred and three others were injured in an attack targeting personnel guarding an oil and gas exploration company’s camp in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Dera Ismail Khan in the early hours of Tuesday, according to police.

The fresh attack comes after multiple terror attacks in the district three days ago.

On Friday, a bomb blast near a police patrol killed five and left over 20 injured in Dera Ismail Khan city. Just two days later, militants targeted security personnel at a checkpoint in the district’s Tank area. That attack was repelled and at least 10 assailants were killed. The same evening, a checkpoint in the Roori area came under attack, injuring a constable.

Speaking to Dawn.com about today’s attack, DI Khan Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) Asfar Ali Shah mentioned that unidentified armed assailants attacked a camp operated by Al-Haj Oil and Gas Private Drilling Company, resulting in the martyrdom of two police officers who were stationed there. He added that three officers sustained injuries.

DSP Shah said the wounded personnel were transported to a nearby hospital, adding that one of them was in critical condition.

He stated that the attackers specifically targeted the police officers stationed at the camp of the oil exploration company.

The deceased officers were identified as ASI Rehmat Ali and Khan Arif. Alamgir Khan, Fazlur Reman, and Ataur Rehman were the wounded policemen.

Pakistan has witnessed an uptick in terror activities in recent months, especially in KP and Balochistan, after the TTP ended its ceasefire with the government in November last year.

On Nov 4, nine terrorists were neutralised by security forces after they infiltrated a Pakistan Air Force training base in Mianwali.

On Nov 3 in Gwadar, at least 14 Pakistan Army soldiers lost their lives after militants ambushed two vehicles of security forces.

On Oct 31, a policeman was martyred after unknown militants opened fire on a police camp in Dera Ismail Khan. That same day, two soldiers were martyred in an IED blast in South Waziristan district.

In July, as many as 12 soldiers of the Pakistan Army embraced martyrdom in separate military operations in the Zhob and Sui areas of Balochistan.

That was the military’s highest single-day death toll from terrorist attacks reported this year. Before this, 10 personnel were martyred in a ‘fire raid’ in Balochistan’s Kech district in February 2022.

Last month, data compiled by the Pakistan Institute for Conflict and Security Studies (PICSS) said the number of militant attacks in August was the highest tally for monthly strikes in almost nine years.

There were 99 attacks across the country, the highest number in a single month since November 2014, the report had said.