SWABI: Two policemen, including an assistant sub-inspector (ASI) heading the Mansori police post, were martyred when three suspects opened fire on a patrolling party on Wednesday night, District Police Officer Waqas Rafiq told the media.

DPO Rafiq said another policeman was critically injured in the attack.

Constable Nawab Ali said the police received information that ASI Walid Khan, who was in charge of the Mansori police post, and his team had come under attack while on patrol.

The nearby police station was subsequently informed, and personnel reached the scene, where they found Head Constable Shahid Khan, 28, injured.

In his statement to the police, Shahid said that when the patrolling party reached India Cham in the Gohati area, ASI Walid was sitting in the front seat of the vehicle, while he and other policemen were seated in the back.

He said they spotted three armed suspects carrying Kalashnikovs and pistols, whom they identified in the vehicle’s headlights. The suspects are reportedly all residents of the area.

“We got out of the vehicle,” Shahid said, adding that the police party attempted to arrest the suspects, but they tried to evade capture.

The suspects then opened fire on the policemen in an attempt to escape, killing ASI Walid and Constable Zulfiqar on the spot and critically injuring Shahid, he said.

Meanwhile, the funeral prayers of ASI Walid and Constable Zulfiqar were offered with full official honours at Police Lines, Shahmansoor, Swabi, on Wednesday.

Mardan Regional Police Officer Qasim Ali Khan, DPO Waqas Rafiq, other police officials and relatives of the deceased attended the funeral prayers.

On Wednesday, 10 police personnel were martyred when a police team came under attack while returning from an operation against elements involved in illegal gold mining.

Police station came under attack

In a separate incident, terrorists attacked the Bandkorai Police Station in Dera Ismail Khan on Wednesday night by ramming an explosives-laden pickup into its main gate, triggering a powerful blast followed by intense gunfire.

However, prompt retaliatory fire by police personnel prevented the attackers from entering the police station, forcing them to flee.

All police personnel present inside the station remained safe, and no casualties were reported.

The powerful blast destroyed the station’s main gate and brought down part of its boundary wall.

A nearby mosque was also destroyed, while several houses in the surrounding area were damaged, with their windowpanes shattered by the force of the explosion.

Soon after the attack, additional police personnel and security forces arrived at the scene, cordoned off the area and launched a search operation to track down the attackers.