Dera Ismail Khan, September 28, 2026: Three traffic policemen were martyred when unidentified armed men opened fire on their mobile van in the Wazirabad Bazaar area of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Tank district, a senior police official said on Monday.
District Police Officer Abdul Samad Khan said the three policemen were travelling in the mobile van when the attackers opened fire, killing them on the spot.
“The attackers fled the scene after the attack,” the DPO said, adding that the assailants also took away the police vehicle.
The vehicle was later recovered from the Garah Budha area, he added.
Two passers-by also sustained injuries in the firing and were shifted to a hospital for medical treatment.
Police cordoned off the area and sealed roads and other possible escape routes, including pedestrian tracks, as a search operation was launched to trace and arrest the attackers.
Security personnel were deployed at various points in the area, while further investigations into the attack were under way. The identity of the attackers and the motive behind the incident were not immediately known.
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Governor Faisal Karim Kundi expressed grief over the killing of the three policemen and sought a report from the relevant senior authorities.
In a statement, Kundi conveyed condolences to the families and colleagues of the martyred policemen and directed authorities to ensure the best possible medical treatment for those injured in the attack.
He also prayed for the early recovery of the injured.
The latest attack comes amid continuing security challenges in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
Earlier this month, at least 21 people, including 15 police officials, were martyred when an explosives-laden vehicle detonated near a mosque in Kohat Police Lines, followed by an attack on the compound and police facilities, according to senior police and district health officials.
On July 26, a terrorist attack on a joint police checkpost in Tank district left 15 people dead, including 14 security personnel, according to the military’s media wing. The victims included 12 soldiers, two policemen and a government official.
In another attack during the same month, two policemen were martyred and two others injured in what police suspected was an improvised explosive device (IED) attack.
According to monthly data compiled by the Pakistan Institute for Conflict and Security Studies (PICSS), mainland KP recorded 54 terrorist attacks last month, representing a 50 per cent increase from July.
