Funeral prayers were offered in Peshawar on Sunday for two police constables who were martyred during firing on their vehicle, officials said.

The incident took place when armed drug smugglers opened fire on the Excise Intelligence Bureau (EIB) mobile squadron GT Road in the Taro Pabbi area of Nowshera in the early hours of the day, Rescue 1122 Spokesperson Nabeel Khan confirmed to Dawn.com.

As a result, constables Iftikhar and Mujahid were martyred. The vehicle’s driver, Shabbir, also lost his life in the attack. Sub-Inspector Farooq Bacha was injured and has been hospitalised.

Funeral prayers for the martyred personnel were offered with full honours at Police Lines Peshawar on Sunday morning.

Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi said the deceased excise personnel have attained a “high rank of martyrdom”. According to a statement issued by the interior ministry, Naqvi said: “We stand with the grieving families of the martyred personnel.”

Last month, three police officials were martyred in gun attacks in Lower South Waziristan, Hangu and Lakki Marwat districts.

Earlier in March, two policemen were martyred while one security guard lost his life in separate overnight attacks in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Karak and Peshawar districts.

In February, three cops were martyred while another six were injured in an attack on a police checkpost in Karak.