By Staff Reporter
PESHAWAR: An armored police vehicle was ripped apart by a roadside bomb in Pakistan’s restive northwest on Monday, killing six officers in one of the deadliest attacks on law enforcement in the region this month, officials said, as the government vowed to root out militant groups amid a surge in violence.
The explosion struck the vehicle as it traveled along a remote stretch of road in Tank district, in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province, near the border with Afghanistan. The blast, caused by an improvised explosive device, destroyed the armored personnel carrier and killed an additional station house officer, Ishaq Khan, along with an inspector, a sub-inspector, the driver and three members of the police’s elite force, according to Younas Khan, a spokesman for the Tank police.
“The armored police vehicle was completely damaged in the explosion,” Khan said, adding that the officers had been returning to Tank from Gomal police station when the device detonated near the Kot Wali Canal on Gomal-Jutta Road. Rescue teams rushed the bodies to the district headquarters hospital, and security forces sealed off the area, launching a large-scale search operation in the rugged terrain. District Police Officer Shabbir Hussain Shah arrived at the scene to oversee evidence collection and the initial response.
In a separate incident hours later in neighboring Lakki Marwat district, another roadside bomb targeted a police patrol near Jabar Khel on Darra Tang Road, within the jurisdiction of the Saddar police station. Three officers, including a station house officer, were injured but were reported to be out of danger after receiving treatment. District Police Officer Nazir Khan visited the site and directed a sweep of the area. “These cowardly acts cannot lower our morale,” he said. “The Lakki Marwat police are responding vigorously to every challenge and are ready to give every possible sacrifice for the public’s protection.”
No group immediately claimed responsibility for either attack, but Pakistani authorities often attribute such strikes to the banned Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan, which the government refers to as Fitna al Khwarij. The militant outfit has escalated assaults on security forces since the Taliban seized power in Afghanistan in 2021, exploiting porous borders and alleged safe havens across the frontier.
The bombings drew swift condemnation from Pakistan’s top leaders, who have faced mounting pressure to curb the violence that has claimed dozens of police and military lives in recent weeks. Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif ordered an immediate investigation into the Tank attack and directed that “those responsible be brought to justice at the earliest,” his office said. He reaffirmed the government’s resolve to “completely eradicate terrorism from the country.”
President Asif Ali Zardari expressed deep grief over the “terrorist attack,” paying tribute to the officers’ “bravery and their passion to serve the country.” He prayed for the martyrs’ elevated ranks and for patience for their families.
The attacks are the latest in a wave of violence targeting law enforcement in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, where militants have intensified operations against police stations, convoys and checkpoints. Just a day earlier, on Sunday, police and counterterrorism forces killed eight militants in joint operations in Bannu, Khyber and a suburb of Peshawar, recovering weapons and mobile phones. The slain militants were linked to previous assaults on police posts and security forces.
Last week, four policemen were killed in two shootings in Lakki Marwat and Bannu. In Sarai Naurang, motorcycle-riding gunmen fired on traffic officers, killing three. Separately, a constable was shot while heading to duty in Bannu’s Mandan area. On Jan. 10, a counterterrorism official was gunned down by unidentified motorcyclists in Peshawar, and another was killed in Bannu. The previous day, a policeman died in an ambush in Bajaur, and another was killed in Khyber.
The spike in attacks has strained Pakistan’s security apparatus. Lt. Gen. Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry, the military’s spokesman, said in November that forces had conducted 67,023 intelligence-based operations nationwide in 2025, mostly in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan, killing 1,873 militants, including 136 Afghan nationals. Pakistan has repeatedly accused the Afghan Taliban of allowing its territory to be used by groups like the Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan, leading to cross-border tensions and retaliatory strikes. Islamabad has also alleged Indian support for militants, claims denied by New Delhi and Kabul.
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