MIRANSHAH: A Miranshah police officer was martyred in firing by unidentified individuals near the Miranshah Bypass Road in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s North Waziristan district on Tuesday, police said.
District Police Officer Sajjad Hussain confirmed the details to Dawn. He said Additional SHO Meera Khan was targeted while on duty.
“He sustained multiple bullet wounds and succumbed to his injuries,” the DPO said.
Miranshah police officer martyred: search under way
Police launched a search operation in the area after the incident to trace the attackers. An investigation has also been opened into the circumstances of the firing.
DPO Hussain said the morale of the police force remained high and that law enforcers were determined to track down Khan’s attackers.
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa has faced terrorist attacks and security challenges for years, with police personnel frequently targeted. The province, along with Balochistan, remains at the centre of the country’s militancy problem.
Violence-linked deaths surged in third quarter
According to a recent report by the Centre for Research and Security Studies, Pakistan recorded a sharp 83 per cent increase in violence-linked fatalities during the third quarter of 2026. The surge reversed a declining trend seen in the first two quarters, as terrorism and counter-terrorism deaths rose across the country.
Balochistan and KP remained the epicentres of violence, together accounting for 98 per cent of all fatalities in the period. Balochistan recorded 829 deaths, nearly 59 per cent of the national total, while KP reported 556 fatalities, more than 39 per cent.
The killing of the additional SHO fits a pattern of recent attacks on law enforcement in the province. On October 7, seven policemen were injured when terrorists attacked a police checkpost in Kohat. Officials later said the attack was repulsed and the injured officers were safe.
A day earlier, four Federal Board of Revenue officials were martyred in firing by unidentified men, while a separate attack on a highway traffic police vehicle in Dera Ismail Khan left one police official martyred and another injured.
On September 27, fourteen people, including two rescue officials, were martyred and 35 were injured after a suicide bomber rammed an explosive-laden vehicle into a police checkpost in DI Khan and then targeted an ambulance carrying bodies to hospital.
On September 18, an explosives-laden vehicle detonated near a mosque in the Kohat Police Lines. Terrorists then stormed the compound and attacked police facilities, martyring 17 policemen and six civilians.
The provincial government has responded with tighter security measures in the merged districts, including curfews in parts of South Waziristan. Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has also offered to build a counterterrorism consensus with the opposition, underlining how the security situation dominates the national agenda.
Who was martyred in Miranshah?
Additional SHO Meera Khan of the Miranshah police station. He was on duty near the Miranshah Bypass Road when unidentified attackers opened fire.
What are police doing?
A search operation is under way in the area to trace the attackers, and an investigation into the incident has been initiated, according to District Police Officer Sajjad Hussain.
How bad is the violence trend?
A Centre for Research and Security Studies report found violence-linked fatalities rose 83 per cent in the third quarter of 2026, with Balochistan and KP accounting for 98 per cent of deaths.
