The death toll from an attack on a police van in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Bajaur has risen to seven, with the Counter Terrorism Department (CTD) registering a first information report (FIR) against unidentified assailants, police said. The attack, claimed by the banned Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan, has also led to the postponement of the polio reduction campaign in the area. Nine more wounded persons are being treated at the facility, with three in critical condition. A case has been lodged at Bajaur’s CTD police station against unknown culprits, and funeral prayers for the slain cops have been offered in their hometowns. Political parties in Bajaur have called off election campaigns in the area for three days in solidarity with the victims and their families. Additionally, security for anti-polio campaigns across the province has been beefed up, according to a post on X (formerly Twitter) by KP police.
The attack in Bajaur follows a spike in terror attacks in Pakistan, particularly in KP and Balochistan, after the TTP ended its ceasefire with the government in November 2022. In a separate incident, a soldier was martyred in an exchange of fire with terrorists in the North Waziristan district. Pakistan also witnessed a deadly attack on security forces in December, with at least 23 Pakistan Army soldiers martyred and over 30 troops wounded 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 from the Centre for Research and Security Studies (CRSS), Pakistan saw a record six-year high in violence-related fatalities and injuries from terror attacks and counter-terror operations in 2023, with KP and Balochistan accounting for the majority of the incidents.