Four FBR Personnel, One Policeman Killed in DI Khan Firing Incidents
Four FBR Personnel, One Policeman Killed in DI Khan Firing Incidents
Four Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) personnel and a policeman were killed in the DI Khan firing on Tuesday, police said, as armed men struck two separate targets in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa district.
District Police Officer Ziauddin Ahmed said the attackers opened fire near Abhaya Bridge, killing the four FBR personnel. Their bodies were later shifted to the District Headquarters Hospital in Dera Ismail Khan.
In the second incident, a constable was killed and another policeman was injured when gunmen fired on a police van near Bannu Road. Police said a search operation was launched in the area after the attack.
What happened in the DI Khan firing
The two attacks took place within the same district on Tuesday, though police have not yet said whether they were coordinated. The FBR personnel were the first target, ambushed near Abhaya Bridge in an area that has seen repeated militant activity this year.
The attack on the police van followed separately on Bannu Road, a busy route out of the city. One constable died at the scene while his injured colleague was taken for treatment. Security forces cordoned off the area and began a search operation to trace the attackers.
No group had claimed responsibility for either attack by Tuesday evening.
Militant attacks at a 12-year high
The DI Khan firing comes amid a sharp rise in militant violence across Pakistan. Data compiled by the Pakistan Institute for Conflict and Security Studies (PICSS), an Islamabad-based think tank, shows 225 militant attacks were recorded across the country in September, up 13 per cent from 199 in August.
It was the third consecutive monthly increase and the highest monthly count in 12 years. Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan have borne the brunt of the violence, which has risen steeply since the Afghan Taliban returned to power in 2021.
Earlier on Tuesday, five India-backed terrorists were killed and two others were injured during an operation targeting militant hideouts in KP’s North Waziristan district, according to security sources. That operation is being reported separately here.
What happens next
Police in Dera Ismail Khan said the search operation around Bannu Road and the Abhaya Bridge area would continue until the attackers were traced. The bodies of the slain FBR personnel were handed over to their families after medico-legal formalities at the District Headquarters Hospital.
The back-to-back attacks are likely to add to pressure on the provincial government over security in the southern districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, where militant groups have stepped up targeted killings of police and government officials this year.
How many people were killed in the DI Khan firing?
Five people were killed: four FBR personnel near Abhaya Bridge and one police constable in an attack on a police van near Bannu Road. Another policeman was injured.
Where did the attacks take place?
Both attacks happened in Dera Ismail Khan district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, one near Abhaya Bridge and the other near Bannu Road.
Has anyone claimed responsibility?
No group had claimed responsibility for either attack by Tuesday evening, according to police.
What is the wider security situation?
Pakistan recorded 225 militant attacks in September, the highest monthly figure in 12 years, according to PICSS data. Attacks have risen for three months in a row, concentrated in KP and Balochistan.
