PESHAWAR – Bannu witnessed new wave of terror, as militants launched deadly assault on convoy of Assistant Commissioner North Waziristan Shah Wali Khan.

Armed attackers ambushed government vehicle near the flour mills on Miranshah Road. After apraying bullets on convoy, the militants snatched weapons from the injured police personnel and then set the official vehicle on fire before fleeing. DIG Bannu Sajjad Khan confirmed that the martyrs includes Assistant Commissioner Shah Wali Khan, two police constables, and one civilian passerby.

The bodies of deceased and injured personnel were immediately shifted to District Headquarters Hospital Bannu. Police added that the Assistant Commissioner was traveling from Miranshah to Bannu at the time of the attack.

For years, Khawarij claimed that their hostility is limited to security forces and does not target civilians. However, today’s cowardly attack shattered that narrative, as death of passerby proves that their operations endanger and target ordinary citizens as well. This tragic incident has also cast a harsh spotlight on the shortcomings of the provincial government’s security strategies.

Earlier this year, DG ISPR revealed that Counter-Terrorism Department (CTD) has only 3,300 personnel across the entire province, a shockingly insufficient number for such vast and highly sensitive region. Despite ruling the province for 13 years, analysts point out that the PTI government failed to take meaningful steps to strengthen the CTD. This lack of capacity-building has left the police and counter-terrorism agencies unprepared for escalating threats.

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