HANGU: At least three Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) policemen, including the Superintendent of Police (SP) Operations, were martyred after twin blasts rocked KP's Hangu district on Friday, police said.
Police identified the martyred police officer as SP Operations Asad Zubair. They said at least three cops were also injured in a blast that targeted the vehicle of SP Operations.
KP Inspector General of Police (IGP) Zulfiqar Hameed said that SP Zubair’s vehicle was targeted in an improvised explosive device (IED) attack as they were rushing to inspect a blast site.
He said that the high-ranking police official and two others embraced martyrdom in the IED attack. The first blast occurred beside a police checkpoint in Ghulmina and caused no casualties, IGP Hameed added.
The second explosion, targeting SP Zubair's vehicle, took place in the Darband area, about two kilometres from the checkpoint.
The wounded were shifted to DHQ Hospital Hangu following the two blasts, District Police Officer Khanzeb Mohmand said.
A bomb disposal squad and police commandos have since launched a search operation in the area.
President Asif Ali Zardari condemned the attack on the police personnel, which he said was carried out by India-backed Khawarij terrorists.
He paid rich tribute to the martyred policemen, while lambasting the attackers as "enemies of Pakistan's peace and stability".
Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi expressed heartfelt condolences and sympathy to the bereaved families of the martyred policemen.
The minister vowed that SP Zubair and the two policemen's sacrifice would not go in vain, saying that the personnel had attained the highest rank of martyrdom.
Pakistan has witnessed a surge in cross-border terror incidents, particularly in the bordering provinces of KP and Balochistan, since the Afghan Taliban returned to power in Afghanistan in 2021.
The two provinces that share a porous border with neighbouring Afghanistan account for more than 96% of the total violence across the country.
KP has witnessed over 600 terror incidents in the first eight months of 2025, a police report has revealed.
At least 138 civilians and 79 police personnel were martyred, while over 100 were injured in such incidents during the first eight months of the ongoing year.