Three Pakistani policemen killed in 'terror' attack

Representative image. Pic/Istock

Three Pakistani policemen were gunned down by people, whom the official termed "terrorists" in Nowshera district's Akora Khattak on Saturday.

According to Dawn citing Nowshera police spokesman Durrani, the assailants attacked the van, resulting in three policemen's deaths.

Durrani said that a police party reached the crime scene soon after the attack, cordoned off the area and initiated a search operation.

The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa police identified the officers as Head Constable Manzoor, Constable Amanullah and Constable Ayaz, Dawn reported.

Meanwhile, Rescue 1122, in the statement, said that the medical teams had moved the bodies to the District Headquarters Hospital Nowshera.

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Mahmood Khan took notice of the incident and summoned an incident report from the police chief.

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"The incident is very tragic and the sacrifice of the martyrs will not go in vain," the chief minister said. He also prayed for the deceased and extended his condolences to their families.

The incident comes after a suicide attack targeting a police truck in Balochistan's Baleli area on Wednesday in which four people were killed and 24 others injured.

Quetta Deputy Inspector General of Police (DIGP) Ghulam Azfar Mahesar told reporters at the site of the attack that the explosion took place near a police truck which was on its way to provide security to polio workers.

"Due to the impact [of the blast], the vehicle toppled and fell into a ditch," Dawn quoted him as saying.

The official further informed that a total of three vehicles were hit in the blast, which were a police truck, a Suzuki Mehran and a Toyota Corolla. "Looking at the crime scene and given that the truck toppled, it is estimated that 25 km of explosives were used [in the blast]."

Mahesar added that the wounded have been moved to the Civil Hospital Quetta, reported Dawn.Soon after the attack, the banned Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) claimed responsibility for the attack.

The blast comes a day after the militant group called off its ceasefire with the government and asked its combatants to carry out attacks across the country.

According to the TTP statement, they called off the ceasefire agreed with the government in June, reported Dawn.

"As military operations are ongoing against mujahideen in different areas [...] so it is imperative for you to carry out attacks wherever you can in the entire country," said the statement.

TTP, a separate entity from the Taliban in Afghanistan but sharing a similar Islamist ideology, have been responsible for hundreds of attacks and thousands of deaths since emerging in 2007.

The decision, it stated, was taken after "the military organizations launched a series of non-stop attacks in Bannu's Lakki Marwat district," added the statement.

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