Two policemen martyred in Tank IED blast

Terrorists target police armoured personnel carrier on routine patrol

---

---

ISLAMABAD/ TANK:

Two police personnel were martyred and three others injured when an improvised explosive device (IED) targeted a police armoured personnel carrier (APC) during a routine patrol on the Tank-South Waziristan Road on Monday, police officials said.

According to police, the APC from Shaheed Murid Akbar Police Station was on routine patrol at around 1pm on the Jandola Road when unidentified terrorists targeted it near Garah Hayat, close to Masha Jan Bungalow, with a remotely detonated roadside explosive.

Assistant Sub-Inspector Faridullah, a resident of Malazai, and constable Akhtar Zaman, a resident of Gul Imam, embraced martyrdom in the blast.

Three policemen—Abdul Malik, a resident of Maghzai, Qudratullah, a resident of Nandor, and another constable—sustained serious injuries.

The injured and the bodies of the martyrs were shifted to Tank District Headquarters Hospital, where post-mortems of the deceased were conducted and the wounded received initial medical treatment. The injured were later referred to the Dera Ismail Khan Teaching Hospital for further treatment.

Local residents said the explosion was extremely powerful and its sound was heard from a considerable distance.

Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Sohail Afridi took serious notice of the attack and strongly condemned the incident. Expressing deep grief over the loss of the policemen, he sought a detailed report from the Inspector General of Police.

The chief minister paid tribute to the martyred personnel for their supreme sacrifice, prayed for the elevation of their ranks and expressed heartfelt condolences to their families. "The provincial government stands with the bereaved families in this difficult time and will not leave them alone under any circumstances," he said.

Meanwhile, President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif also strongly condemned the terrorist attack targeting police personnel in Tank.

The president expressed deep grief over the martyrdom of the policemen, prayed for their high ranks in Jannah and extended condolences to the bereaved families.

PM Shehbaz strongly condemned the bomb attack on the police vehicle and expressed sorrow over the martyrdom of an assistant sub-inspector and two other police personnel.

He also commended the security forces for eliminating several terrorists in Balochistan during Operation Shaban and reiterated that anti-terror operations would continue until the complete eradication of terrorist groups.