4 cops martyred as two suicide bombers hit Bara police station, tehsil office

PESHAWAR: Four policemen were martyred and 11 others injured when two suicide bombers attacked the Bara police station and tehsil office in Khyber district on Thursday.

The attack was the third in three days in the limits of Peshawar’s capital city police. Gunshots were also heard from the building in the busy Bara Bazaar before the two explosions.

“The suicide bombers opened fire on the cops at the main gate. The cops retaliated bravely. The explosives tied to the body of the bombers went off when hit during the ensuing fight,” Inspector General of Police Akhtar Hayat Khan told The News.

Officials said damage and casualties would have been higher had the bombers detonated the explosives around their vests inside the building after managing their entry. A police station had been set up inside the tehsil building in the Bara Bazaar where the offices of assistant commissioner, tehsildar and other officials are located.

The explosions destroyed a portion of the building and many were trapped under the debris, officials said adding that the cops were martyred and the wounded were also trapped under the rubble.

Rescue 1122 officials confirmed four cops were martyred. A Rescue 1122 spokesman said that three martyred cops were Bahader Sher, Anwar and Tayyab Afridi while nine policemen and two civilians were wounded.

Contingents of police cordoned off the area while the wounded were rushed to the Hayatabad Medical Complex.

Social media reports said the banned Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) claimed the attacks, saying two of its members, Shahidullah Yousafzai and Hanzala Mohmand, carried out the attacks.

Hours before the incident, two policemen were martyred and as many were wounded in a late-night attack on a police checkpoint in Regi Model Town on Nasir Bagh Road Peshawar late Wednesday night.

Reports said a group of terrorists opened fire on a police post at the entrance to the Regi Model Town around midnight. Constables Wajid and Farman were martyred while two others sustained injuries. Their funeral prayers were offered at the Malik Saad Shaheed Police Lines.

Governor Ghulam Ali, Inspector General of Police Akhtar Hayat Khan, Chief Secretary Nadeem Aslam Chaudhry, Capital City Police Officer Ashfaq Anwar and others attended the funeral prayers. On Tuesday, six FC soldiers were among the eight wounded in a suicide attack in the posh Hayatabad Township of the provincial capital.

A police station in Matani, Peshawar, was also attacked by terrorists a couple of days back where no casualty was reported as the cops repulsed the attack.

Meanwhile, caretaker Chief Minister Azam Khan visited the Hayatabad Medical Complex to inquire about the health of those wounded in the attack.

Awami National Party provincial president Aimal Wali Khan expressed concern over the fresh wave of violence and spike in attacks on police and security personnel in KP, especially Peshawar. He said people are also receiving threats from extortionists.