BAJAUR (The Thursday Times) — A policeman was martyred when terrorists attacked a police post in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Bajaur district late on Thursday night, officials said on Friday.
The attack targeted the Silai Pati police post in the remote Barang tehsil, which borders Malakand district. District police spokesperson Mansoor Khan said a group of Fitna al-Khawarij terrorists opened fire on the post and the personnel on duty retaliated bravely.
The officer embraced martyrdom after putting up stiff resistance, the spokesperson said, adding that the attackers fled after an effective response from the police deployed at the post. Fitna al-Khawarij is the term the state uses for terrorists of the banned Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP).
Funeral prayers for the martyred officer were held at the Police Lines in Khar, attended by Deputy Commissioner Adnan Farid Afridi, District Police Officer Khan Zeb Mohmand, police officials, elders and political and social workers. His body was then sent to his native area in Barang tehsil for burial.
No group has claimed responsibility for the attack.
A day earlier, the Bajaur district administration banned pillion riding for 10 days under Section 144 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, citing the security situation and reports from intelligence agencies. The province remains under an emergency as security forces press operations against terrorists in the north-west.
