Two Policemen Martyred in Swabi; DI Khan Station Attacked
Two policemen were martyred in a Swabi police attack on Wednesday night, and a third was critically injured, while terrorists rammed an explosives-laden vehicle into a police station in Dera Ismail Khan the same night.
The Swabi police attack claimed the lives of Assistant Sub-Inspector Walid Khan, who headed the Mansori police post, and Constable Zulfiqar. Head Constable Shahid Khan, 28, was critically injured in the firing and was taken for treatment.
In Dera Ismail Khan, police stopped the attackers from entering the Bandkorai Police Station, and no one inside was hurt. The blast destroyed the station’s main gate and a nearby mosque, and damaged houses in the area.
What happened in the Swabi police attack
District Police Officer Waqas Rafiq told reporters that the patrolling party came under fire in the Gohati area of Swabi on Wednesday night. Constable Nawab Ali said police received word that ASI Walid Khan and his team had been attacked while on patrol, and personnel from the nearby police station rushed to the scene.
Head Constable Shahid Khan, who survived the attack, told police that the party reached India Cham in the Gohati area when the three suspects came into view in the vehicle’s headlights. ASI Walid was sitting in the front seat, while Shahid and other policemen were seated at the back.
Shahid said the suspects were carrying Kalashnikovs and pistols, and police believed all three were residents of the area. The police party got out of the vehicle and tried to arrest them, but the suspects tried to escape and opened fire.
The firing killed ASI Walid and Constable Zulfiqar on the spot and left Shahid critically injured.
Funeral prayers for the two martyred policemen were offered with full official honours at Police Lines, Shahmansoor, in Swabi on Wednesday. Mardan Regional Police Officer Qasim Ali Khan, DPO Waqas Rafiq, other police officials and relatives of the deceased attended.
DI Khan police station targeted
In a separate incident on Wednesday night, terrorists attacked the Bandkorai Police Station in Dera Ismail Khan by ramming an explosives-laden pickup into its main gate, setting off a powerful blast followed by intense gunfire.
Police personnel inside the station returned fire at once. Their prompt response stopped the attackers from entering the station and forced them to flee. All police personnel present inside remained safe, and no casualties were reported.
The blast destroyed the station’s main gate and brought down part of its boundary wall. A nearby mosque was also destroyed, while several houses in the surrounding area were damaged, with their windowpanes shattered by the force of the explosion.
Soon after the attack, more police personnel and security forces reached the scene, cordoned off the area and launched a search operation to track down the attackers.
A violent night for KP police
The two incidents came on the same day that 10 police personnel were martyred in Kohat, when a police team came under attack while returning from an operation against elements involved in illegal gold mining.
President and the prime minister condoled the deaths of the 10 martyred policemen in Kohat, and the prime minister paid tribute to the fallen officers. The back-to-back attacks underline the pressure on police in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, where officers on patrol and at small rural stations remain exposed to armed groups.
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa has stepped up operations against militant networks in recent weeks, and police officials have warned that local support for militant groups remains a serious problem. The province’s police have repeatedly called for better equipment and protection for officers posted in high-risk districts.
Why it matters
The Swabi attack struck a routine patrol, the kind of duty thousands of policemen perform every night across the province. The DI Khan attack, by contrast, was a direct assault on a police station with a vehicle packed with explosives, a tactic meant to breach the building and cause heavy loss of life.
That both attacks happened on the same night as the Kohat killings points to a coordinated spell of violence against the police in the province. For residents, the destruction of a mosque next to the DI Khan station adds a further cost: a place of worship used by the local community was reduced to rubble.
Police have launched search operations in both districts. No group had claimed responsibility for either attack at the time of reporting.
Frequently asked questions
Who was martyred in the Swabi police attack?
ASI Walid Khan, who headed the Mansori police post, and Constable Zulfiqar were martyred on the spot. Head Constable Shahid Khan, 28, was critically injured.
What happened at the DI Khan police station?
Terrorists rammed an explosives-laden pickup into the main gate of Bandkorai Police Station in Dera Ismail Khan on Wednesday night. The blast destroyed the gate, part of the boundary wall and a nearby mosque, but police fire stopped the attackers from entering and no casualties were reported.
Were the two attacks linked?
Police have not said the two attacks were linked. Both happened on Wednesday night, the same day 10 policemen were martyred in a separate attack in Kohat.
