Policeman killed in firing by unidentified assailants in Quetta

A policeman was killed in Quetta on Wednesday after unidentified assailants opened fire at him while he was heading home, Pakistan-based Dawn reported citing an official.

Speaking to Dawn, Sariab Superintendent of Police (SP) Zia Mandokheil said that Akhtar Husain posted at the entrance of the Special Branch office in Sariab Mills Colony was heading home after completing his night duty when armed men opened fire at him.

Mandokheil said that the police personnel was killed on the spot and his body was taken to Civil Hospital, Quetta and later to the Quetta Police Lines. He further said that police arrived at the site of the incident to begin a probe and collect shells of a 9mm pistol.

In a similar incident on Monday, two police officials were killed and three others were injured in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa's Lakki Marwat when unidentified gunmen attacked a patrolling vehicle.

On Sunday, a senior officer of Balochistan’s Khuzdar Counter Terrorism Department (CTD) and his team members survived an armed attack by unknown men.

Over the past few months, the law and order situation in Pakistan, particularly Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan has worsened with terrorist groups carrying out attacks across the country.

The outlawed Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) has intensified terrorist attacks since the talks between the Pakistan government and TTP broke down in November last year, particularly Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and areas bordering Afghanistan.

On August 17, three Pakistani policemen were injured after unidentified men hurled a hand grenade at a police vehicle in Karachi, Pakistan-based ARY News reported. According to the report, the Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP), Karachi, said a hand grenade cracker was allegedly hurled at a police vehicle in Sachal Karachi which left three police personnel injured.

Meanwhile, a separate incident was reported in the Balochistan province's Naseerabad where unidentified men hurled a hand grenade at SSP’s squad in Dera Murad Jamali.

According to police officials, SSP Naseerabad Hussain Lehri was coming back from a routine patrol along with his squad when the hand grenade exploded but no one was injured. After the explosion, the police, Counter Terrorism Department and bomb disposal squad reached at the site and cordoned off the area.

Earlier this month, a police personnel was killed and two others were injured after a police van in the Badaber area of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa's Peshawar was attacked, Pakistan-based Geo News reported.

Police Constable Yar Muhammad was critically injured along with two other policemen when unidentified armed men attacked their van. While undergoing treatment, Muhammad succumbed to his injuries, according to Geo News report. No group has claimed responsibility for the attack on a police vehicle. (ANI)