SWABI: Two policemen, including an assistant sub-inspector (ASI), were martyred when three suspects opened fire on a patrolling party on Wednesday night, District Police Officer Waqas Rafiq told journalists.
He said that another policeman was critically injured in the attack.
Constable Nawab Ali said that police received information that ASI Walid Khan, who was head of Mansori police post, and his team had come under attack while patrolling the area.
The nearby police station was subsequently informed, and personnel reached the scene, where they found head constable Shahid Khan injured.
In his statement to the police, Shahid said when the patrolling party reached India Cham in Gohati area, 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. The police party attempted to arrest the suspects, but they opened fire on it in an attempt to escape, killing ASI Walid and constable Zulfiqar on the spot and critically injuring Shahid.
Terrorists hit police station in DI Khan with explosive-laden vehicle
Meanwhile, funeral prayers of ASI Walid and constable Zulfiqar were offered with full official honour at Police Lines Shahmansoor, Swabi, on Thursday.
Mardan Regional Police Officer Qasim Ali Khan, DPO Waqas Rafiq, other police officials and relatives of the deceased attended the funeral prayers.
In a separate incident, terrorists attacked Bandkorai police station in Dera Ismail Khan on Wednesday night by ramming an explosives-laden pickup vehicle 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.
In Bajaur, a bomb explosion damaged the house of a former police official in Salarzai tehsil late on Wednesday night.
Police and locals said that the incident occurred in Kohi area when an explosive device planted along the boundary wall of the house of Mohammad Alyas, a former Bajaur police official, went off with a bang.
They said that a portion of the boundary wall was partially damaged in the explosion, which caused no loss of life.
Mansoor Khan, a spokesperson for district police, said that the device was a time bomb. He said that investigation had been launched to ascertain the motive behind the incident and identify the culprits.
No group or individual has so far claimed responsibility for the attack. However, according to locals, Mohammad Alyas is the nephew of local elder Malik Mohammad Nawaz Khan, who had also faced such incidents in the past.
Published in Dawn, November 13th, 2026
