PESHAWAR: Three police officers, including a senior superintendent, were killed on Friday in an apparent double-tap attack targeting a checkpoint in Hangu district of Pakistan’s northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, officials said.
Police said the assault began when unidentified militants detonated explosives near the Ghulamiana checkpoint, damaging the facility but causing no immediate casualties.
A second, more powerful blast struck soon after, when a police team led by the Superintendent of Police (Operations) Asad Zubair arrived to inspect the site, killing all three officers instantly.
“The police party, headed by the Superintendent of Police, reached the scene when their vehicle hit a planted bomb, leaving all three police officials martyred on the spot,” Hangu police spokesman Saqib Khan told Arab News. “One constable suffered injuries.”
Reinforcements were dispatched to secure the area, and the bodies were shifted to a local hospital for post-mortem examinations, Khan said, adding that an investigation was under way and “multiple leads” were being pursued.
