Two cops martyred in more KP attacks

Two policemen were martyred while one security guard lost his life in separate overnight attacks in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Karak and Peshawar districts, officials said on Sunday.

The development follows a spate of attacks in the province a day ago in Lakki Marwat, Bannu, Mohmand district and Bajaur.

According to Karak District Police Officer (DPO) Shahbaz Elahi, terrorists attacked two police stations and a Sui Gas installation overnight. There was a heavy exchange of fire, which resulted in the martyrdom of two policemen and the death of a private security guard.

DPO Elahi told the media that terrorists attacked with heavy artillery, but Karak police repulsed all three attacks.

He said that armed men attacked the Khurram and Takht-e-Nasrati police stations, resulting in the martyrdom of police sub-inspector Islam Noor Khan in the latter assault.

In the Sui Gas installation attack, the assailants were chased but managed to flee in the darkness. One of them was killed by the police in the chase.

The police also rescued a security guard abducted by the armed militants after an exchange of fire.

“The police demonstrated courage, fought and frustrated big attacks,” DPO Elahi said.

He added that the situation was now under control and the attackers had fled and retreated to the mountains when the police retaliated.

The banned Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) claimed responsibility for the attacks in a statement.

The attacker, Kashif alias Jarrar, was wanted by the police for his role in terrorist activities in the area.

Meanwhile, policeman Nazar Ali was martyred when unidentified terrorists opened fire at the Pajgi outpost of Michi Gate police station in Peshawar.

Police retaliated to the firing immediately, forcing the attackers to flee.

Pakistan has witnessed an uptick in terror activities over the past year, especially in KP and Balochistan, after the proscribed TTP ended its ceasefire with the government in November 2022.

Earlier this month, an attack on the Bannu Cantonment in the namesake district left five soldiers martyred while 16 terrorists were killed in the response. Due to the destruction caused by the blasts, 13 civilians, including six children, lost their lives, while another 32 were injured.

In counterterrorism efforts following the attack, security forces killed three terrorists in the KP’s Tank district. On Thursday, 10 terrorists who attempted to attack a checkpost in KP’s Jandola area were eliminated.

Pakistan ranked second in the Global Terrorism Index 2025, with the number of deaths in terrorist attacks rising by 45 per cent over the past year to 1,081.

February saw a marginal increase in terrorist attacks but witnessed a sharp surge in civilian casualties, according to a report published by the Islamabad-based think tank, Pakistan Institute for Conflict and Security Studies (PICSS).