Islamabad: One police officer was killed and three others were abducted after armed assailants targeted a police checkpost at Shah Almas Pir Pahari in Hangu district of Pakistan’s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, local media reported Tuesday.
District Police Officer Salahuddin Kundi said that the armed assailants targeted the Shah Almas Pir Pahari post and opened fire, Pakistan-based daily The Express Tribune reported.
Following the attack, a heavy contingent of the law enforcement personnel rushed to the spot. However, the armed assailants fled from the spot. The three abducted police personnel were safely recovered through efforts involving police, tribal elders and the district administration.
The incident took place amid a rise in attacks targeting Pakistani law enforcement personnel, especially in the provinces of Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
Earlier September 28, three traffic police personnel were killed after their mobile van was attacked by unidentified assailants in the Wazirabad Bazaar area of Tank district in Pakistan’s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, according to a senior police official.
District Police Officer Abdul Samad Khan said that three traffic police personnel died on the spot after their mobile van came under attack by armed men, Pakistan daily Dawn reported. He said that armed men had taken away the police vehicle, which was later recovered, adding that two passers-by were injured in the attack and taken to hospital for treatment.
In a separate incident, earlier September 26, at least 12 people were killed, and 35 others injured after a police checkpost in Pakistan’s Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province came under a bomb attack. The fatalities included nine men, two women and a child, Dawn reported.
According to officials, a trolley laden with explosives was rammed into the Aman Mela police checkpost in Dera Ismail Khan’s Darazinda tehsil. Dera Ismail Khan District Police Officer (DPO) Ziauddin Ahmed said that it was a suicide blast. A large portion of the checkpost was destroyed and a house adjacent to the checkpost was completely damaged due to the blast.