Five security personnel killed in militant attacks in Pak’s KPK

Peshawar, Aug 25 (PTI) At least five security personnel were killed and 17 others injured in two separate terrorist attacks in Pakistan’s northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, officials said on Monday.

Three personnel of the Frontier Constabulary (FC) died and 17 were injured when militants stormed an FC fort in the Tora Warai area of Hangu district late Sunday night, officials said.  Earlier in the day, two more security personnel were killed when terrorists opened fire in the Tirah valley of Khyber district, officials said.  In another incident, five militants were killed during a joint operation launched by police and the Counter Terrorism Department in Upper Dir district.

One civilian was also killed, and seven policemen were injured during the operation, officials said.

Police recovered one militant’s body on Sunday night and four more on Monday, bringing the toll to five.

Search operations are being conducted in Upper Dir’s Dobando, Birkot, Salam Kot and Atandra areas to clear militants, police said.

The development comes amid a surge in terrorist attacks across the country, particularly in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan — both of which share a porous border with neighbouring Afghanistan.

According to the Pakistan Institute for Conflict and Security Studies (PICSS), an Islamabad-based think tank, the country witnessed 78 terrorist attacks in June. Altogether, the violence and operations resulted in 175 deaths.  Earlier this month, security forces neutralised 47 terrorists attempting to infiltrate from Afghanistan during separate operations in Balochistan’s Zhob district, officials said. PTI AYZ SKS RD