MIANWALI (Pakistan): A group of around 12 to 14 terrorists attacked the Qabool Khel police check post in Punjab’s Mianwali city with rockets and grenades that resulted in injuries to at least two police officers, Geo News reported.
However, the Punjab Police thwarted the attack by the terrorists after which they escaped.
Following the incident on Monday, senior police officials, including the District Police Officer and Deputy Superintendent of Police, rushed to the scene with additional personnel to secure the area, as per Geo News.
Last month, at least 12 policemen were martyred and six sustained injuries after bandits attacked their vans with rockets in a riverine area of Punjab’s Rahim Yar Khan.
According to Geo News, the horrific attack occurred in the Machka area located in one of Rahim Yar Khan’s riverine areas.
According to the police officials, two police vans with more than 20 cops were trapped in rainwater in the locality when bandits launched rockets at them.
As a result of the fierce attack, a dozen cops were martyred while seven others were wounded and five went missing, the police added. Militant attacks have increased in Pakistan since the Taliban took control of neighbouring Afghanistan in 2021.
The northwestern province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and the southwestern province of Balochistan, which shares borders with Afghanistan and Iran, have been particularly affected.
In 2023, Balochistan saw at least 170 militant attacks, resulting in the deaths of 151 civilians and 114 security personnel, according to the Pakistan Institute for Conflict and Security Studies.
Islamabad accuses Kabul’s new rulers of failing to root out militants sheltering on Afghan soil as they prepare to stage assaults on Pakistan.
Against this backdrop, the federal cabinet in June this year approved Operation Azm-e-Istehkam, a reinvigorated national counter-terrorism campaign following the Central Apex Committee’s recommendations under the National Action Plan to root out terrorism. (ANI)