Terrorist strike in Pakistan’s restive northwest claims the lives of two 2 police officers

Police claimed heavily armed militants assaulted an oil and gas business in Pakistan’s restive Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, killing two police officers and injuring three more.

The attack took place late Tuesday night at the Alhaj Oil and Gas Company in the Dera Ismail Khan area, which borders the tribal district of South Waziristan.

Two officers were killed and three others were injured in the gunfight.

Police have arrived on the scene, and a combing operation has been initiated in the vicinity to apprehend the fleeing perpetrators.

The injured were taken to the Combined Military Hospital in the district.

During a heavy exchange of fire with militants in the Tirah area of the province, a Pakistan Army officer and three soldiers were killed.

Following the Taliban’s takeover of power in Afghanistan in August 2021, Pakistan has seen an increase in bloodshed.

According to a September report by the Pakistan Institute for Conflict and Security Studies (PICSS), Pakistan had 99 attacks in August, the most in a single month since November 2014.

The number of militant attacks in August was the highest monthly total in nearly nine years.

In an October analysis, the think tank Centre for Research and Security Studies (CRSS) reported that the security forces lost at least 386 individuals in the first nine months of 2023, an eight-year high.

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan were the key hotspots of violence, accounting for roughly 94 percent of all fatalities and 89 percent of attacks (including terrorism incidents and security forces operations) during this time period.

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