Escalating Violence in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa: A Surge of Targeted Attacks and Gunbattles

At least four security personnel were killed in targeted attacks and gunbattles with armed militants in Pakistan's Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province. Despite efforts, the region faces increased violence against police, security officials, and anti-polio teams, highlighting growing instability and targeted killings.

At least four security personnel were killed in targeted attacks and gunbattles with armed militants in Pakistan's northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province on Thursday, police reported.

In the first incident, unidentified assailants on a motorbike gunned down an official of the paramilitary Levies Force in Karak, a southern district of the province.

The unidentified gunmen shot dead the Levies Force official after he left his home for duty. In another incident, three security personnel lost their lives in an exchange of fire with militants in North Waziristan's Boya village.

The KPK province, which borders Afghanistan, has witnessed numerous attacks on police, security personnel, and anti-polio vaccination teams in recent months, along with kidnappings of civil and military officials. A bank manager was killed, and two others injured as gunmen ambushed their vehicle in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa on Wednesday.

Last week, two gunmen on a motorcycle opened fire and killed a policeman guarding a group of polio workers going door-to-door in a vaccination campaign, marking the second attack on the country's anti-polio campaign in as many days. Police in the volatile Lakki Marwat district had called off their days-long protest last week, condemning a spike in militant attacks and targeted killings of police officials.

(With inputs from agencies.)