Checkpost attacked in KP's Khyber district

KHYBER: A checkpost of law enforcers was attacked in the Spin Qabar area of Bara after an attacker fired and threw a hand grenade at it, the police told Geo News on Sunday.

The police and Frontier Corps (FC) personnel retaliated, but the attacker escaped. Police reported no loss of life in the attack.

The attack on law enforcement personnel comes as the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province remains gripped by a wave of terror. In July alone, KP has been targeted by militants multiple times.

Geo News, on July 21, reported at least four terror attacks in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in just 48 hours, including one in the capital city of Peshawar where authorities were successful in foiling it.

A policeman, on July 20, was martyred, and 10 others were injured after a terrorist blew himself up when the police intercepted him and his accomplice while entering the tehsil compound — which houses the Bara Police Station, government offices, and a cell of the counter-terrorism department (CTD). 

The province has seen a surge in terrorist attacks — from improvised explosive device blasts to suicide bombings — since late last year when the Tehreek-e-Taliban (TTP) ended its ceasefire with Islamabad.

In light of the rising militancy, Pakistan's government has warned Afghanistan against providing safe havens to the banned TTP — a terrorist organisation targeting security forces.

The top brass of the Pakistan Army has recently said that sanctuaries and liberty of action available to terrorists of proscribed TTP and other groups of that ilk in Afghanistan is one of the major reasons impacting the security of Pakistan.

Pakistan has witnessed a surge in terrorist attacks following Afghan Taliban's return to power in August 2021 and called upon the interim rulers to take decisive actions against terrorists, including the TTP, responsible for cross-border attacks.

Terror activities in the country have soared by 79% during the first half of 2023, a statistical report released by the independent think tank Pakistan Institute for Conflict and Security Studies (PICSS) showed.

KP interim Information Minister Feroz Jamal said on Geo News' morning show the police are equipped to deal with the rising terrorist activities but also noted that the Afghan government's actions could help curb militancy.

"If there is peace in Afghanistan, there will be peace in Pakistan. Anyone involved in cross-border terrorism should be dealt with [in Afghanistan]," the information minister said.