A traffic warden was gunned down by unidentified miscreants in a crowded marketplace in Dir Lower district of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) on Tuesday afternoon.
Separately, a terrorist was killed in a raid in DI Khan.
Police told The Express Tribune that Bakhat Zameen was posted in traffic police for a long time and he was currently deployed in Talash Bazaar.
“He was on duty in the crowded marketplace in the afternoon when unidentified terrorists opened fire at him, killing him on the spot,” said a police official, adding that the attackers managed to escape.
Local residents rushed him to hospital where he was pronounced dead on arrival. As per the initial information, the attackers were riding a motorcycle.
“Police reached the site of the attack and started a door-to-door search operation but there was no sign of any suspect involved in the attack,” he said.
Soon after the incident, highly enraged family members and local residents staged a protest against the attack in Talash Bazaar by blocking the GT Road for all kind of vehicular traffic. As a result long lines of vehicles could be seen on both sides of the key artery.
They demanded an end to terrorism in the area and urged police to arrest those responsible for the deadly attack in a marketplace in broad daylight.
The protesters, however, dispersed peacefully after district administration and police officials held negotiations with them. The traffic jam continued even after the end of the protest and sit-in in the market.
The last rites of the slain traffic warden were offered in Dir Police Lines with full guard of honour following which the dead body was sent to the deceased’s ancestral town for burial.
It may be mentioned here that two policemen, who had been deployed outside a mosque in Kohat, were shot dead last night.
Police said they were guarding the mosque during Taraveeh prayers when attacked.
The deadly attack caused widespread panic among the local residents in Kohat.
In DI Khan district, a terrorist was killed and two others were injured in an intelligence based operation (IBO). A policeman was also injured in the raid.
In the Kot Easa area of Daraban police station in DI Khan, police and security forces raided a house where terrorists were holed up.
They were asked to surrender but the terrorists opened fire at the raiding party.
In the ensuing exchange of fire, a terrorist was killed who has been identified as Ansar, resident of Kot Easa. Two others were injured who managed to escape.
A police constable Ilyas Khan was also injured in the firefight who has been hospitalized where his condition is stated to be critical.
Militancy has been on the rise since the fall of Kabul to Taliban after the withdrawal of US forces from Afghanistan.
Published in The Express Tribune, April 5th, 2023.
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