2 policemen killed in attack in northwest Pakistan

Peshawar, Jan 6 (PTI) Two Pakistani policemen were shot dead by unknown assailants on Monday in the country's restive Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, according to the police.
     The incident took place in the restive Jabukhel area of the Lakki Marwat district, according to Police Department Spokesperson Shahid Hameed.
     The two policemen were on their way to the duty station when they were ambushed by the attackers.
     Both policemen received critical bullet injuries and died on the spot while the attackers fled on a motorcycle.    
     No group has so far claimed responsibility for the attack.
     The bodies were shifted to the District Headquarters Hospital in Tajazai for a postmortem examination.
     A heavy contingent of law enforcement officers reached the scene, launching a search operation to apprehend the attackers.
     Lately, Pakistan has witnessed a sharp uptick in the number of attacks targeting security forces, particularly in Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa provinces.
     Attacks escalated after the banned Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) broke a fragile ceasefire agreement with the government in 2022 and vowed to target security forces.
     On January 4, two soldiers travelling in a passenger coach were kidnapped by terrorists in the Kurrum Par area of the Lakki Marwat district.
     Meanwhile, two civilians and a policeman were killed and 18 others, including nine law-enforcement personnel, were injured in three separate blasts in South Waziristan and Bannu and an attack on a police check post in Dera Ismail Khan district on January 1.

(This story has not been edited by THE WEEK and is auto-generated from PTI)