Five policemen killed in two terror attacks

 In terrorist attacks that occurred within a few hours at a government building in Bara and a police station close to Peshawar, Dawn reported that five police officers were killed and 12 others, including nine personnel and three civilians, were injured.

Officials said policemen intercepted two suicide bombers at the entrance of the tehsil headquarters complex and police station adjacent to Bara bazaar around 11 am on Thursday.

They said police engaged the bombers in a gun battle, which left one of the attackers dead, while the other blew himself up. A portion of the building collapsed owing to the impact of the explosion, Dawn reported.

Three policemen were killed and 10 others, including three civilians, were injured.

Dawn is a Pakistani daily providing updates on political and economic issues in Pakistan.

"Offices of the Counter Terrorism Department (CTD), an intelligence agency, and the district administration were also located in the building which came under attack," Dawn wrote quoting sources.

Officials of the bomb disposal unit said seven to eight kilograms of explosives were used by the suicide bombers, adding that they had recovered pieces of hand grenades, Dawn reported.

They recalled that CTD had killed four members of an alleged extortionist gang and arrested 13 others during separate intelligence-based operations in the Akkakhel area a few days ago. They added that the deceased and the detainees were involved in extortion cases in Peshawar, Khyber and some other parts of the province.

Earlier on Wednesday night, two police personnel were killed and two others sustained injuries in an attack on a police post in Regi Model Town, a township located on the outskirts of Peshawar, Dawn reported.

The attack took place at around 11.45 pm, and officials believe the terrorists were equipped with night-vision gadgets - similar devices used in a strike carried out in the Sarband area near the provincial capital on January 14. A deputy superintendent of police and two gunmen lost their lives in that incident.

“Our personnel wore bulletproof jackets and bulletproof helmets and terrorists opened fire at them at a distance of around 50 metres. Headshots and that too precisely forehead shots were only possible with night-vision sights,” Superintendent of Police Arshad Khan told Dawn.

The SP said terrorists attacked the police team with US-made M-4 rifles and the investigation team had recovered around 21 empty shells from the spot, adding that police retaliated but the terrorists escaped.