Four cops martyred, five terrorists killed in Bannu attack

Bannu: Four police officials were martyred and five terrorists were killed when the terrorists wearing suicide jackets and burqas attacked Iqbal Shaheed police lines in Bannu city of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, which was thwarted.

According to a report, a police officer said that five terrorists attacked the Iqbal Shaheed Police Lines immediately after the funeral prayers of Shaheed Head Constable Shaista Khan in the firing attack in Baka Khel earlier in the day.

Police officers and local elders attended the last rites of the martyred policeman.

The officer added that around two hours after the funeral prayers ended, five terrorists armed with sophisticated weapons, rocket launchers, and hand grenades attacked the police lines.

He said that the attackers wearing traditional burqas and suicide jackets reached the police lines in loader rickshaws and motorcycles and opened fire on the officers standing at the main gate.

The police responded effectively to the attack and the terrorists were cornered in a guest house.

The police officer said that after the attack, Bannu Regional Police Officer Imran Shahid reached the police lines and led the operation.

Four policemen, identified as Javed Khan, Siraj Khan, Hafeez and Arshad Khan, lost their lives in the six-hour gunfight.

Bannu District Police Officer (DPO) Ziauddin Ahmed praised the police personnel who foiled the terrorists' attempt to enter the main building of the police lines by showing unprecedented bravery.

Appreciating the bravery of the martyred policemen, he said that the police force is determined to end the scourge of terrorism.

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur has summoned a report on the attack.

Chief Minister Ali Amin and Governor Faisal Karim Kundi strongly condemned the attack and praised the police personnel for successfully foiling the attack.

The funeral prayers of the martyred police personnel were performed in police lines with full official honors in which Provincial Minister Malik Pakhtun Yar Khan, Chief Secretary Nadeem Aslam Chaudhry, Inspector General of Police Akhtar Hayat Khan, Commissioner Bannu Abid Wazir, RPO Shahid and DPO Ziauddin attended.

They placed floral wreaths on the coffins of the martyred policemen while armed police presented a guard of honour.

Later, their bodies were sent to their native areas for burial.

The provincial minister and other government officials also inspected the site of the attack, saying that the attack was an attempt to sabotage peace and disrupt law and order, but the police effectively foiled their malicious attempt.