Pakistan: 2 cops killed, 4 injured in attacks on census teams

Pakistan, March 15: At least two policemen were killed and four others sustained injuries in attacks which Pakistani forces called "militant attacks" on census team in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa's southern districts of Tank and Lakki Marwat, sources reported.

According to the sources for the district police, the police van came under attack in the Kot-Azam area of Tank district while it was returning from a village.

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"Militants opened fire on the police van when it was returning from Manjhi village (after duty hours). As a result, one policeman embraced martyrdom and four others sustained injuries," said police spokesman Syed Yaqoob Bukhari, adding that the attackers fled after the shooting.

The injured personnel was rushed to the Tank district headquarters hospital from where they were referred to Dera Ismail Khan due to the unavailability of required facilities, he said, adding that law enforcement agencies' personnel reached the site and launched a search operation against the militants, sources stated. 

The deceased policeman was identified as Khan Nawab, a recruit of Kohat police training centre, belonging to Swat district. A funeral prayer for the martyred policeman was later offered at the District Police Office which was attended by officers of law enforcement agencies, police, and others.

Meanwhile, a similar attack on the census team took place in the Pirwala area of the Lakki Marwat district where a Frontier Reserve Police (FRP) police constable was killed.

Last week, a police personnel was killed while four others were injured in a terrorist attack targeting a census team in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa's Dera Ismail Khan district. The outlawed terrorist group Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) claimed responsibility for the attack, as per the sources.

Pakistan's law and order situation has worsened over the past few months, with terrorist groups launching attacks with near impunity across the country. The TTP has intensified its attacks, particularly targeting the police in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and areas bordering Afghanistan since the terrorist group's talks with Pakistan broke down in November last year, sources stated. 

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According to the statistics revealed by Islamabad-based think tank, Pakistan Institute for Conflict and Security Studies, 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 nation.