Another ASI martyred in Peshawar attack

PESHAWAR: An assistant sub-inspector (ASI) of police was martyred in yet another targeted attack by armed men on Charsadda Road on Monday.

An official said ASI Amjad Khan was on way to the office from Shabqadar when he was targeted by armed attackers near Khazana village on Charsadda Road. The attackers escaped after committing the crime while the cop succumbed to his injuries before he was taken to hospital.

A search operation was launched in the area after yet another attack on police in the last few weeks. The funeral prayers for the fallen cop was offered at the Malik Saad Shaheed Police Lines that was attended by senior police and civilian officials as well as members of the KP cabinet.

"We are investigating the case from all angles as it is too early to say who was behind it," Inspector General of Police Moazzam Jah Ansari told reporters after the funeral prayers. The IGP said the group behind other recent incidents has been identified and hoped that the terrorists involved [in this attack] would be busted soon.

He added some suspects had also been rounded up and the network will be broken in a few days. There were attacks on police in different parts of Peshawar and other areas of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in recent months. Most of the attacks happened in the northern part of the provincial capital.

Recently, an ASI Imtiaz Khan of the Charsadda police was coming back after a hearing in a court in Peshawar when he came under attack by the armed men in the limits of Mathra police station. A few days before that, a traffic police official Mohibullah was shot by the attackers in the limits of Mathra Police Station when he was returning after performing polio security duty in Nasir Bagh.

Also, an assistant sub-inspector of the traffic police Nauman Khan was martyred while on way from home in the Urmar village to his office. Apart from Peshawar, attacks on police continued in different parts of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in recent weeks.