Peshawar, February 18 Two government employees were killed and two others were injured when militants attacked a police station and a customs office located along the CPEC in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in northwest Pakistan on Wednesday.
The attackers also fired at passenger buses traveling on the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) route in the Dera Ismail Khan district and set fire to a customs vehicle during the attack, causing panic in the area, police said.
The militants opened fire with automatic weapons on the Yarik police station and the customs office in the area bordering South Waziristan, when police constable Mohammad Bilal and customs official Israr Khan were killed, a police spokesperson said.
The injured were taken to a hospital at the district headquarters.
Security personnel returned fire, prompting the assailants to flee. A search operation was launched in the surrounding area.
Earlier in the month, at least four police officers were killed when armed militants attacked a police party in Paniala’s Wanda Budh area of Dera Ismail Khan district.
Meanwhile, in another incident on Wednesday, local police, in coordination with the Bomb Disposal Squad (BDS), defused a 40-kilogram remote-controlled improvised explosive device (IED) planted at Nala Pul along the Lakki–Mianwali Highway, connecting Khyber Pakhtunkhwa with the Punjab province.
A police spokesperson said the IED was installed at a highly sensitive public location with schools and higher education institutes nearby.
The IED was concealed inside a drum containing more than 40 kilograms of explosive material, the police said, adding that two detonators, a 12-volt battery, and an electronic circuit were also recovered from the site.
IGP Zulfiqar Hameed lauded the Lakki Marwat Police and the Bomb Disposal Squad for their timely and professional response.
