Three policemen were martyred while another two were injured after the local police headquarters in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Tank district came under attack, police said on Friday.
Tank District Police Officer Iftikhar Ali Shah confirmed the casualties.
According to the official, one of several militants first exploded himself at the main entrance of a police office and residence block and the others stormed in. “Our force on guard engaged them in a gun battle for hours,” DPO Shah said.
KP Inspector General Akhtar Hayat said three of the attackers were killed.
DPO Shah said he was present at the site of the incident and a search operation was under way to locate more militants. He further said that the terrorists fired shots and “used hand grenades”.
A little-known militant group that identified itself as Ansarul Islam claimed responsibility, saying it was their first attack, according to a statement sent to a Reuters reporter. The police didn’t verify the authenticity of the claim.
Former prime minister Shehbaz Sharif expressed his grief over the incident and strongly condemned it.
Stating that the police, Frontier Corps and Pakistan Army were putting their lives at risk, he added that the nation would always be indebted to them for their sacrifices.
Uptick in terror activities
Today’s incident comes days after at least 23 soldiers were martyred and more than 30 troops wounded after militants belonging to the Tehreek-i-Jihad Pakistan (TJP) stormed a compound used by the military in Dera Ismail Khan.
Last month, a cop embraced martyrdom in a militant attack outside the Nadra office in Tank after being shot by militants riding on a motorcycle.
On Nov 11, three police personnel, including a station house officer (SHO), were martyred and five others including a deputy superintendent of police, had sustained injuries in a militant attack on police in Tank’s Kari Shah Noor area.
Earlier in November, an overnight attack on the post in the limits of Gul Imam police station in the Tank area of D.I. Khan was repelled.
