TANK: Three traffic police personnel were martyred and three others injured when unidentified gunmen opened fire on a police vehicle in Wazirabad Bazaar, District Police Officer (DPO) Abdul Samad Khan said on Monday.
According to the DPO, the attackers targeted the traffic police mobile vehicle before fleeing the scene. Assistant Sub-Inspector (ASI) Ismatullah sustained injuries in the attack and was taken to the District Headquarters Hospital for medical treatment.
Two civilians passing through the area were also wounded in the firing, the police official said. The assailants took the police vehicle while escaping, but it was subsequently recovered from the Gara Budha area.
Police have sealed off roads and pedestrian routes around the area and launched a search operation to track down the attackers, DPO Khan added.
Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi strongly condemned the attack and expressed sorrow over the deaths of the three police personnel.
Naqvi extended his condolences to the families of the martyred officers, saying the nation paid tribute to their sacrifice.
He said the government stood by the bereaved families and vowed that the sacrifices of personnel killed while combating terrorism would not be forgotten.
Recent surge in KP violence
The latest attack in Tank follows a series of deadly incidents targeting security personnel and civilians in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
Earlier, 13 people, including two women and a two-year-old child, were killed in a suicide attack on an anti-smuggling check post in the Darazanda area of Dera Ismail Khan.
Security sources said Customs, Excise and Rescue personnel and civilians were among those killed. At least 35 people were injured in the attack, according to the Regional Police Officer.
A week earlier, an explosion at a mosque inside the old Police Lines in Kohat during Friday prayers left 22 people dead, including 16 police officials, while 103 others sustained injuries.
Following the incident, police and security forces conducted an overnight clearance operation in the Police Lines, killing eight militants, according to the Central Police Office.
The Centre for Research and Security Studies (CRSS) reported that Khyber Pakhtunkhwa registered 475 violence-related fatalities during the second quarter of 2026, the highest figure recorded among Pakistan’s provinces.
