DERA ISMAIL KHAN: At least four officials of Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) were killed in an armed attack near Qureshi Mor in Dera Ismail Khan, the local police said on Tuesday.
The police said that unidentified gunmen opened fire on the FBR officials near Qureshi Mor before escaping from the scene. Two of the four slain officials were working with the revenue board on contractual appointments, District Police Officer Ziauddin Ahmad said.
Following the attacks, police teams cordoned off the affected areas and began search operations to trace the attackers. Investigators were also examining the circumstances surrounding the incidents and collecting evidence from the crime scenes.
In the second incident, gunmen targeted a highway traffic police mobile near the Mufti Mahmood Chowk bypass. The official driving the vehicle was killed in the firing, while another police official suffered injuries and was shifted to the District Headquarters Teaching Hospital for medical treatment.
Senior police officers reached the hospital and assessed the condition of the injured official as well as the overall security situation.
The attacks came as mobile phone services were restored across Dera Ismail Khan after remaining unavailable in the district for three days. The suspension had disrupted communication and affected commercial and routine public activities.
The interruption in mobile connectivity also coincided with the postponement of the second annual matriculation examinations. The examinations originally scheduled from October 7 to 10 have been rescheduled, with the revised schedule beginning on October 12, according to Controller of Examinations Qaiser Anwar.
Authorities have not established any publicly disclosed connection between the mobile service suspension and the latest attacks. No group has so far claimed responsibility, while details about the attackers remained unavailable.
The incidents are part of a broader deterioration in the security situation in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and other parts of the country.
In a separate assault on a highway traffic police vehicle claimed the life of another official and wounded a colleague.
According to data compiled by the Pakistan Institute for Conflict and Security Studies (PICSS), Pakistan recorded 225 militant attacks in September, up from 199 in August, marking a 13.1 per cent monthly increase and the highest number of attacks recorded in 12 years.
Dera Ismail Khan has also witnessed several major security incidents in recent weeks. On September 27, 14 people, including two rescue officials, were killed and 35 others injured when a suicide attacker rammed an explosives-laden vehicle into a police checkpoint and subsequently targeted an ambulance transporting the bodies of those killed in the first blast.
Earlier, on September 18, an attack on the old Police Lines in Kohat claimed 23 lives and left around 100 people injured. Security forces later killed eight militants during an overnight clearance operation.
