KHYBER: During the past 24 hours, two distinct incidents in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa have resulted in the martyrdom of more than a dozen security personnel.
At least eight security officers were slain and three injured in intense gunfights with militants over the weekend in the Tirah valley, according to government sources, though Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) did not formally confirm the dead toll.
“Nine militants” were also killed in the battle, according to a Tuesday report from the AFP news agency.
Armed gunmen stormed a military base close to the Bagh-Maidan Markaz, sparking the confrontations.
After two days of gunfights, the valley experienced a tense calm before shops in Tirah opened on Tuesday.
In Tirah, eight people accept martyrdom while battling attackers; many soldiers were the targets of a “suicide attack” in Mali Khel.
On Sunday night, local merchants also staged a protest, calling for peace and reparations for their stores that were damaged by mortar bombardment.
Then, in the Janikhel neighborhood of Bannu, a suicide attack near the Mali Khel checkpoint on Tuesday resulted in the martyrdom of multiple security personnel.
According to accounts, about eleven people accepted martyrdom in the attack, despite the early reports being vague. Two of the men are reportedly in severe condition.
According to sources, armed militants attacked after the Mali Khel explosion, sparking a shootout with police forces. Once reinforcements reached the scene, the wounded and martyrs were evacuated and taken to hospitals.
The attacks occurred on the same day when the NAP apex committee convened to assess the state of security.
Recently, militant violence has increased in the unrest-plagued Bannu area. With the assistance of tribal elders, authorities on Tuesday successfully retrieved more than six police officers who had been kidnapped from a checkpoint on the North Waziristan border the previous day.
Unknown criminals attacked the still-under-construction structure of a girls’ elementary school in the Shah Najeeb Landidak Naikum Kallay neighborhood around a week ago.
In a shootout in the Bakka Khel neighborhood of the same district late last month, three security personnel—among them an army major—embraced martyrdom.
During recent protests, a peace jirga called for significant measures to bring the area back to peace and take action against armed gangs who the residents said controlled the roadways without the presence of law enforcement.
