Pakistan: Cop guarding census team killed in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa [Pakistan], March 10 (ANI): A police officer who was guarding a census team was killed in Dera Ismail Khan on Wednesday, reported Dawn.

Meanwhile, four other cops were injured when terrorists targeted their vehicle in Dera Ismail Khan. The unidentified shooters targeted the police vehicle in the Garah Mastan area in the limits of Daraban Police Station. The assailants fled the scene after the shooting, reported Dawn.

The injured were shifted to Mufti Mehmood Hospital for treatment.

According to Dawn, the banned militant group Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) claimed responsibility for the attack.

Separately, six terrorists were killed in an intelligence-based operation in the Datta Khel area of North Waziristan, the military’s media wing said.

The terrorists were killed during an intense exchange of fire, said the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) said in a statement, adding that weapons and ammunition were recovered from them, reported Dawn.

“The killed terrorists remained actively involved in terrorist activities against security forces and civilians,” it added.

The incidents came amid a surge in terrorist activities across the country, especially in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan, since the TTP ended its ceasefire with the government in November.

According to statistics released by the Pakistan Institute for Conflict and Security Studies, an Islamabad-based think tank, January 2023 remained one of the deadliest months since July 2018, as 134 people lost their lives and 254 received injuries in at least 44 terrorist attacks across the country during the month.