PESHAWAR: In Orakzai tribal district on Tuesday, three assailants were shot dead and their accomplice was taken into custody in critical condition after they targeted two police officers who were escorting a group of polio vaccinators.
On the second day of the statewide polio immunization campaign, police constables Abdul Samad and Zamal Badshah accepted death while accompanying the vaccinators in the tribal district’s Mullakhel Dabori area, according to police sources.
Two police officers were killed in two other incidents in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Tank and Lakki Marwat districts.
According to police reports, the two officers in Orakzai were on duty to make sure the vaccination drive went smoothly when they were attacked. The other police officer, Zamal Badshah, was critically injured and was unable to survive while being transported to the hospital, while police constable Abdul Samad immediately accepted martyrdom.
Four officers were martyred in the KP shootings, three attackers were murdered, and one extremist was apprehended.
Following the ambush, the FC and police contingent arrived at the scene and confronted the assailants. According to police sources, three terrorists were shot dead during the gunfight, and one militant was taken into custody with injuries.
Kohat prevented an attack
A polio team was attacked in Kohat district as well, but the attacker was forced to retreat to the Darre Wal Banda area after prompt reprisal by the police protecting the polio team.
After arriving at the scene, DPO Umer Khan and a police team began a search in order to apprehend the offenders. Three suspects were reportedly taken into custody and questioned over their claimed connections to the attacks, according to sources.
According to police spokesperson Fazal Naeem, three female health workers were attacked from the side of the road as they were delivering polio drops to the children at each home. The police guard quickly responded by firing at the assailants, causing them to flee. According to him, the female healthcare professionals were not hurt during the shooting.
Three police officers who were escorting polio squads in North Waziristan were reportedly taken prisoner at gunpoint, stripped of their official weapons, and then released, according to sources.
They claimed that armed individuals appeared at the Mamait Kot dispensary in Shewa tehsil of Mirali subdivision, where police officers were on duty with polio squads, grabbed their firearms, and then managed to flee.
Lakki cop martyred
On Tuesday, a Special Branch police official was killed in a shooting incident in the vicinity of Kotka Sher Khan in Lakki Marwat.
Police constable Arifullah was shot by attackers as he was riding a motorcycle to work. The attackers ran away after the assault, but a sizable police presence arrived and began searching the area.
Following the completion of medico-legal procedures at DHQ hospital in Tajazai, the body was brought to police lines for the funeral. The funeral was attended by military officials, Bannu RPO, Lakki Marwat DPO, and the deputy commissioner.
The body was thereafter sent to be buried in Chandukhel village.
A hit-and-run raid at DHQ hospital in Tank resulted in the martyrdom of another police constable. According to a police spokesperson, armed terrorists fired upon Bara Khel police constable Nizamuddin when he was on duty at DHQ hospital in Tank and fled. However, two insurgent attempts on the Mamikhel FC station in Upper South Waziristan were thwarted by security troops.
One FC soldier was hurt in another attack, which the security forces also successfully repelled, and he was moved to CMH, Peshawar.
