Three police constables were martyred in a terrorist attack at a police checkpost in Jamrud tehsil of Khyber tribal district on Thursday, police said.
The banned Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) claimed responsibility for the attack. In a statement, police said that unidentified persons attacked the Takhta Beg police checkpost at 7:30pm. The statement said the gunmen, armed with hand grenades, entered the premises and opened fire using a sub-machine gun. The police statement said that after the firing, a suicide bomber blew himself up. “Three police constables have been martyred while reports of the injured have not yet been received,” the statement said, identifying the deceased as Manzoor, Yunus and Rafiq. Khyber District Police Officer (DPO) Imran Khan said it was a “coordinated attack” during which the assailants opened fire and lobbed hand grenades while a suicide bomber was also present. The DPO had earlier said that two police officials were martyred in the attack. KP Chief Minister Mahmood Khan condemned the attack and sought a report from the provincial police chief. In a statement, he said he had directed police to send reinforcements. “The sacrifices of the martyrs will not be in vain,” he said.
Over the past few months, terrorism has been rearing its head again in the country, especially in KP and Balochistan. Pakistan has seen a rise in terrorist attacks across the country, believed to have been planned and directed by the outlawed TTP leaders based in Afghanistan. The TTP, which has ideological linkages with the Afghan Taliban, executed more than 100 attacks last year, most of which happened after August when the group’s peace talks with the Pakistan government began to falter. The ceasefire was formally ended last year on Nov 28 by the TTP.
Thursday’s incident comes days after a senior police officer along with two constables embraced martyrdom in a midnight militant attack on Sarband police station on the outskirts of Peshawar. Officials said the militants had carried out a “coordinated” attack and used advanced equipment, including thermal weapon sights. Last week, three police personnel, including a deputy superintendent of police (DSP), were martyred in a late-night terrorist attack on the Sarband Police Station in Peshawar. Inspector General (IG) of KP police Moazzam Jah Ansari had told media that the police “bravely repulsed the terrorist attack”.
