A policeman was shot dead by unidentified assailants in the limits of the Mandan police station in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Bannu district on Tuesday morning.

Khanzala Quraishi, spokesperson for the Bannu regional police officer, told Dawn.com: “Police Constable Khanzeb was on his way to duty on a motorcycle when he was intercepted and targeted by unidentified assailants near the Asghar fuel station in the limits of Mandan police station.”

He added that the policeman was killed on the spot by the intense firing and the body was moved to the District Headquarters Hospital Bannu after a heavy police contingent soon reached the spot.

A statement from the police said that Bannu District Police Officer (DPO) Saleem Abbas Kulachi also visited the incident site later in the day, inspecting the scene in detail and issuing strict instructions for the arrest of the culprits.

The statement said the DPO himself, along with other police personnel, was present in the area for the operation to arrest the suspects.

“We will not rest until the elements involved in the incident are brought to justice,” the DPO was quoted as saying in the statement.

Three policemen of the counter terrorism department embraced martyrdom and two others were injured in an armed clash with terrorists in the district’s Speena Tangi Chashmi area last week.

A day before that, a terrorist was killed and two policemen, including an officer, were injured in a gun battle near Kot Adil.