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The death toll from the attack on a police van in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Bajaur rose to seven on Tuesday as the Counter Terrorism Department (CTD) registered a first information report (FIR) against unidentified assailants, police said.
A day earlier, a vehicle carrying police personnel in the Mamond tehsil for escorting vaccinators came under attack. Five policemen died on the spot while another one succumbed to injuries at a hospital in Peshawar, police spokesman Israr Khan told Dawn.
Following the attack — which was claimed by the banned Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan — the polio reduction campaign was postponed in the area.
Speaking to Dawn.com today, the Bajaur police spokesman said that another cop had succumbed to his injuries at Peshawar’s Lady Reading Hospital.
The official said nine more wounded persons were being treated at the facility, of which three were in critical condition.
He further said that a case had been lodged at Bajaur’s CTD police station against unknown culprits, adding that the funeral prayers of the slain cops were offered in their hometowns.
Political parties in Bajaur have called off election campaigns in the area for three days. They have also decided against holding any poll-related events until Jan 10 to express solidarity with the victims and their families.
Separately, in a post on X (formerly Twitter), KP police said security for anti-polio campaigns across the province had been beefed up.
Rise in terror attacks
The Bajaur attack comes as Pakistan reels from a spike in terror attacks, particularly in KP and Balochistan, after the TTP ended its ceasefire with the government in November 2022.
A day earlier, the military’s media wing said a soldier was martyred in an exchange of fire with terrorists in the North Waziristan district.
In the deadliest attack on security forces in the outgoing year, at least 23 Pakistan Army soldiers were martyred and more than 30 troops wounded on Dec 12 after militants belonging to the Tehreek-i-Jihad Pakistan stormed a compound used by the military in Dera Ismail Khan’s Daraban area.
According to an annual security report issued by the Centre for Research and Security Studies (CRSS), Pakistan witnessed 1,524 violence-related fatalities and 1,463 injuries from 789 terror attacks and counter-terror operations in 2023 — marking a record six-year high.
KP and Balochistan provinces were the primary centres of violence, accounting for over 90 per cent of all fatalities and 84pc of attacks, including incidents of terrorism and security forces operations.