Three police personnel were martyred as law enforcers responded to a terrorist attack on a checkpost in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Hangu on Wednesday night, according to an official statement from the provincial Counter-Terrorism Department (CTD).

The statement, issued late last night, said terrorists carried out a “cowardly attack on the Qazi Talab checkpost in the dark of the night”.

Responding to the attack, Hangu District Police Officer (DPO) Khan Zeb Mohmand led the operation against the terrorists, the statement said.

It added that while the operation was underway, police personnel “surrounded the area and stood firm against the enemy like a wall of lead”.

“Eventually, police foiled the attack,” the statement added. However, three policemen, Head Constable Wahid Shah, Head Constable Hikmat Khan and Abdul Samad, were martyred during the operation.

The CTD statement detailed that “intense fighting” had continued between police and the terrorists for two hours, and there were reports of several deaths among the terrorists.

“The terrorists took advantage of the darkness of the night and the rocky mountainous terrain and fled, taking their dead and wounded with them. However, the body of an armed terrorist was recovered during the search and strike operation,” the statement said.

Condemnations pour in

KP Chief Minister Sohail Afridi strongly condemned the attack, a statement issued by his office said, adding that the provincial chief executive had also issued instructions to “immediately send additional personnel” to the site of the incident.

“Terrorists have no religion. Cowardly attacks cannot demoralise us,” the statement quoted Afridi as saying. He further said that the terrorists would be brought to justice and the sacrifices of the martyrs “will not go in vain”.

He sought an immediate report on the incident from the KP police inspector general and also called for the immediate provision of medical treatment to those injured in the attack, the CM Office’s statement said.

“The fight against terrorism will continue with an even stronger resolve,” the statement further quoted the CM as saying, adding that he also prayed for the martyred personnel and their families.

Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi also condemned the attack and paid tribute to the martyred personnel.

A statement on the interior ministry’s X account said that Naqvi extended condolences to the bereaved families. “Sacrifice of the martyred personnel will not go in vain,” he was quoted as saying.

“These sacrifices are a testament to Pakistan’s unwavering resolve in the fight against terrorism,” Naqvi said, adding that KP police were on the front lines of this fight.

Pakistan has seen a rise in terrorist attacks in the recent past, particularly in KP and Balochistan, since the banned Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) ended its ceasefire with the government in 2022. With the end of the ceasefire, the TPP had vowed to attack security forces, police, and personnel of law enforcement agencies.

Last night’s attack comes roughly three weeks after an improvised explosive device struck a police convoy conducting search operations near a cemetery in the Doaba area of Hangu. Three police officers, including a station house officer, were injured in the November 2 attack.

In a similar incident on October 24, three cops, including a superintendent of police, were martyred when back-to-back blasts rocked Hangu. According to the police, the TTP was behind the blasts.