PESHAWAR: The three major incidents in the provincial capital in the last few days have kept the Counter Terrorism Department and the regular police on their toes.
Police are investigating the last three terror incidents in Peshawar from all angles to find any lead that help bust the gangs behind the increasing attacks.
Some reports suggested there were few similarities in the attack on the station house officer Shahpur Shakeel Khan and another attack on the officials of the Intelligence Bureau, including the use of a white car by the attackers as well as firing shots with AK 47.
However, the officials said, the probe is going on from all angles and so far the groups involved in the two incidents do not seem the same.
Investigators are checking the CCTV footage, the phone data and reports of geo-fencing to lay hands on the groups behind the attacks. Some sources said progress has been made and the CTD and police will work out these cases soon.
Officials said most of the incidents happened in the last many months have been worked out and the groups involved were busted.
Shahpur Police Station SHO Shakeel Khan was martyred on Thursday in attack on his vehicle by two armed men chasing him for long in a white car. The attackers fired more shots after coming out of their vehicle when the car of the SHO crashed on Northern Bypass to confirm his death.
An ASI of the IB, Najeeb, was martyred and another man was injured in another attack in the Sarki Gate area of the city on Tuesday. The attackers came in a car, not like in most of the cases where the criminals used motorbikes.
Apart from the two attacks, a third major incident was reported in Peshawar on Sunday when two Sikh traders Saljeet Singh and Ranjeet Singh were targeted by armed men in Battatal, Sarband. The attackers came on motorbike and opened fire with their AK 47 rifle.
These incidents happened a few days after the Counter Terrorism Department said a key commander and a suspected suicide bomber were killed in an operation near Pawaka in Peshawar.
Not only in Peshawar, but an increase in attacks has been reported in many districts of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa for the last many months. As many as 145 security personnel and 101 civilians were martyred in terrorist incidents in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa since August last year.
The attacks had recorded a further increase during the month of March and April when more policemen as well as soldiers of army and Frontier Constabulary lost lives.
According to the statistics collected by the headquarters of the KP Police 101 civilians, 60 policemen, 50 soldiers of the army, 25 paramilitary soldiers of FC and ten personnel of khasadars and levies now part of the KP police lost lives in attacks from August 2021 till April 26.
For the civilians the worst month was March when over 70 lost lives in a single suicide attack on mosque in Koocha Risaldar.
The attacks intensified in Peshawar as well as southern districts of the province in the last couple of months. Apart from Peshawar, security personnel came under major attack mostly in Dera Ismail Khan, Bannu, North and South Waziristan.
According to the official data, five policemen were martyred in August last year, three in September, the number shot to 11 in October while four died in November and seven in December 2021.
The attacks continued during the current year as seven policemen were martyred in January and one in February.
The attacks increased during the month of March when ten policemen were martyred.
Another 12 policemen and three former khasadars were martyred during the month of April.
In several incidents, many policemen also sustained injuries during the months of March and April. Reports said 41 policemen were wounded in attacks during the first four months of the year. Apart from attacking check posts, police stations, posts and vehicles also came under attack with grenades. Grenade attacks on civilians have also recorded an increase for the last many weeks with the latest one on a factory in Hayatabad.