On-duty cop martyred, another injured in Lakki Marwat attack

LAKKI MARWAT: A constable was martyred and another sustained bullet wounds while on duty in an attack in the Saeedkhel area of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Lakki Marwat district on Sunday, police said. District police officer’s spokesperson Qudratullah Khan told Dawn that the cops were attacked near the Saeedkhel graveyard, in the limits of the City Police Station. “The terrorists opened fire on the rider squad personnel while they were patrolling the area,” he said, adding that Constable Sajidullah lost his life in the attack while Constable Muhammad Waqas was seriously wounded. The body of the deceased constable and the injured policeman were taken to the Government City Hospital, he said. Meanwhile, a large police contingent reached the site of the attack, surrounded the area and launched a search for the assailants, he said. Security personnel and law enforcers have been coming under attack in KP, which continues to face terrorism. According to the Pakistan Institute for Conflict and Security Studies’ (PICSS) monthly security assessment released on July 31, security personnel deaths in terrorism incidents in KP, excluding merged districts, increased from 12 in June to 38 in July and terrorist deaths from 37 to 108, reflecting a rise by 192pc. But civilian deaths fell from 26 to seven, a decline by 73pc. One peace committee member was also killed. Security personnel deaths in merged districts rose from six to 11 and terrorist deaths fell from 72 to 55. Civilian deaths, meanwhile, rose by 86pc, increasing from seven to 13.