Four dead, three wounded in firing on two vehicles in KP's Kurram

• Two security officials among four martyred.
• Police say security beefed up in area. 
• Manhunt to arrest attackers launched: DPO.

KURRAM: At least four people, including two security personnel, were martyred and three others wounded in a firing on a passenger bus and a car in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa's Kurram District, Geo News reported Sunday. 

According to District Police Officer (DPO) Muhammad Imran, armed assailants opened fire on the bus and car in the Sadda area which resulted in the deaths of four people. 

The dead included two security personnel, a driver and a woman, said DPO Imran, adding that the police have launched a manhunt to arrest the attackers while security has been beefed up in the area.

"The armed attackers targeted two vehicles going from Parachinar to Peshawar," said the DPO.

Last week, six barbers were kidnapped and murdered after which their bodies were dumped in a field in Mir Ali tehsil in North Waziristan tribal.

Local and official sources said that the bullet-riddled bodies of six men were found in the field in Muski village located in Mir Ali. They said that the initial investigation suggested that the victims had been shot dead after being kidnapped.

The slain persons, the sources added, were all barbers, stated to be non-locals and had recently shifted to North Waziristan. They were running barber shops in Mir Ali Bazaar.

Terror attacks in KP

The year 2023 witnessed an alarming rise in terror-related incidents in the country in general and in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in particular as it witnessed 419 militant attacks in which 620 people were killed including 306 security forces personnel, 222 civilians, and 92 militants.

Meanwhile, 977 were injured including 525 security forces personnel, 402 civilians, and 50 militants.

More violence was recorded from mainland KP — an increase of 84% in militant attacks — than the Newly Merged Districts (erstwhile FATA). It witnessed 235 militant attacks in which 336 people were killed including 213 security forces personnel, 67 civilians, and 56 militants while 589 were injured including 383 security forces personnel, 163 civilians and 43 militants.

Meanwhile, FATA saw 184 militant attacks in which 284 people were killed — including 155 civilians, 93 security forces personnel, and 36 militants — while 388 including 239 civilians, 142 security forces personnel, and seven militants were injured.

The region witnessed a 59% rise in militant attacks in 2023 compared with 2022.