Three security personnel killed in separate attacks in Bannu

BANNU: Two police constables and a security guard were killed in two separate firing incidents in Bannu on Monday, according to authorities.

The first incident took place outside a National Database and Registration Authority (NADRA) office in the Baka Khel area, where armed assailants opened fire on security staff. Constable Rafiullah and security guard Gul Shah Noor were killed on the spot.

Police said a large contingent reached the site soon after the attack, but the attackers escaped. The bodies of the two victims were shifted to the District Headquarters Hospital in Bannu for post-mortem examination.

In another incident near the Miryan Kinger police station, unidentified gunmen shot dead police constable Sher Muhammad.

Authorities said a broad search and checkpoint operation had been launched across the district following the attacks.

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Governor Faisal Karim Kundi condemned the incidents and paid tribute to the victims. He said that “the people of the province share the grief of the martyrs’ families.”

Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi also condemned the attack. He said Guard Gul Shah Noor and Constable Rafiullah “attained the great status of martyrdom while performing their duty,” adding that “by sacrificing their lives in the line of duty, both personnel set a high example of bravery.”

Recent attacks in the region

The latest incidents come days after a suicide attack in Bannu on Friday in which five people, including women and a child, were killed and several others were injured, among them at least one police officer. The attack targeted the Domel Police Station.

Initial reports said militants tried to ram a vehicle carrying around 1,000 to 1,500 kilograms of explosives into the wall of the police station. After failing to breach the wall, the explosives were detonated in a nearby civilian area.

Authorities said effective defensive measures stopped the attacker from entering the police station, but the blast in the nearby area caused civilian casualties.

Last week, seven people, including three police personnel, were injured in an improvised explosive device blast in the Sarai Naurang area of Lakki Marwat. The explosion targeted a police vehicle near a vegetable market.

Last month, at least seven police personnel, including the station house officer of Shadi Khel Police Station, were killed in an IED explosion near a police mobile in Lakki Marwat. A week earlier, two policemen were killed and 15 people, including five police personnel, were injured in an IED blast in the Rustam Bazaar area of Wana in Lower South Waziristan.

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa has seen a rise in militant violence since the United States’ ouster from Afghanistan, with militants often crossing the border to target police convoys and vehicles. The province recorded 3,811 of the country’s 5,397 reported incidents last year, followed by Balochistan with 1,557 incidents, while 29 incidents were reported from the rest of the country. A total of 2,597 militants were killed during the year.