• Upper Dir attack claims lives of three cops, constable martyred in attack on police post
• Kurram SHO slain during operation; FC man martyred in South Waziristan

PESHAWAR: Six police personnel were martyred and eight others injured as militants targeted police at five different locations, including the outskirts of the provincial capital.

The deadliest assault occurred in Upper Dir, which claimed the lives of three police personnel, while other attacks occurred in Lower Dir and Shangla districts.

Late on Wednesday night, a police official deputed at Hassan Khel Police Station informed senior officers of an ongoing attack.

Superintendent of Police for Sadar Division Raza Muhammad said the police station is surrounded by dense natural forest, adding that the exchange of fire continued for almost three hours, and the police responded bravely.

Hassan Khel Police Station, located around 40 kilometres south of Pesh­awar, is situated on the border between districts Peshawar and Kohat.

This area has been a hotspot for intelligence-based operations aimed at dismantling militant groups. Recent attacks in the area have claimed the lives of several law enforcement officers.

While the attack on Hassan Khel was underway, police at the Adezai Post, located five kilometres north, successfully repelled a similar attack. “The exchange of fire lasted 10 minutes, but the militants had to retreat due to the intense response from the Adezai police,” said SP Raza.

Further attacks were thwarted the same night.

Militants opened fire on a police post at Sakhi Pull in the Nasir Bagh area, but the attack was successfully repelled.

In Kurram, Qaisar Hussain, the Station House Officer of Roza Police Station, was martyred in an exchange of gunfire during an intelligence-based operation targeting Abid Hussain alias Tehran Turi, a notorious militant leader.

Turi, a trained fighter who allegedly fled to Syria after the 2007 sectarian clashes in Kurram, played a leading role in the Bagan incident in November last year.

Dir attacks

Separately, four policemen were martyred and seven others injured when militants carried out coordinated attacks on a Quick Response Force (QRF) van in Upper Dir and multiple police posts in Lower Dir late on Wednesday night, officials and police sources said.

They said that the gunmen, in a midnight attack, ambushed a QRF van in Upper Dir’s Panakot area, which left three police officials, including Akbar Hussain, Nasr Minullah and driver Ismail martyred on the spot.

Six others, including policemen and Frontier Constabulary personnel identified as Jalal, Rahimullah, Niaz, Abdul Ghaffar, Rahim and Riasat Khan, sustained injuries and were shifted to the hospital.

Police said the attackers targeted the vehicle with automatic weapons, but the elite force personnel travelling in a separate vehicle remained unharmed. All units in the area were placed on high alert following the assault.

In Lower Dir’s Maidan subdivision, militants attacked three police posts in Lajbok, Shadas, and Kolal Dherai, in separate incidents during the night.

One constable was martyred in the Lajbok attack, which occurred around midnight. Another constable sustained minor injuries in the assault on Shadas post at about 1:15am. The third attack, on Kolal Dherai post around 2:30am, was repulsed without casualties.

S. Waziristan

Separately, a Frontier Corps official was martyred when a patrolling party of the paramilitary force came under attack in Lower South Waziristan. Sources said that the security forces cordoned off the area and launched a search operation.

In Shangla, a militant attack was thwarted by law enforcement personnel near Dambra Chowk on Chawga-Shekoli Road. Police said the attack took place at 1:23 am on Thursday when militants opened fire, adding that police responded immediately.

They said that the attackers took cover behind stacks of construction blocks. At around 1:40am, the militants, while dragging away two injured accomplices, retreated towards Shekoli Road.

Attack foiled in Lakki

Meanwhile, police in Lakki Marwat also claimed to have thwarted a late-night militant attack on a police post in the Mazanga area of Bannu district.

A police official said that a group of militants attacked the post with light and heavy weapons in an attempt to seize the building. He added that the exchange of fire lasted for some time, causing the assailants to flee.

Separately, a police officer and a cook sustained injuries when unidentified militants threw a grenade at the Bamkhel police post in Swabi district on Thursday.

Ghulam Mursalin Marwat in Lakki Marwat, Muqaddam Khan in Swabi and our correspondents in Dir, Lower South Waziristan and Shangla also contributed to this report

Published in Dawn, August 15th, 2025