Separately, the spokesperson said FC personnel detained a local leader of the banned BLA in Sheikhri area of Kalat. PHOTO: EXPRESS
DERA ISMAIL KHAN/RAWALPINDI:
Four members of a local peace committee were killed on Tuesday when unidentified gunmen ambushed their car in the Bannu district of the volatile Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province, a day after six police officers were martyred in a bomb attack in the neighboring Tank district.
The security situation in KP, which shares a long border with Afghanistan, remains precarious amid incessant infiltration of terrorists from across the border. Officials say Afghanistan continues to serve as a safe haven for terrorist groups of various types.
“The Khawarij attackers were waiting for the vehicle carrying the peace committee members in Huwed area of Bannu. They opened fire as soon as the vehicle approached, killing all four occupants on the spot,” a senior police official told The Express PAkGazette.
The term Khawarij is used for fighters of the banned Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), officially designated as Fitna al-Khawarij to highlight the group’s extremist, regressive and exclusionary ideology.
The official said a father and his son were among the victims, adding that an investigation had been launched into the incident.
Local sources said peace committee members in the area had taken up arms in self-defence in response to persistent terrorist threats, a development that has contributed to rising tensions in and around Bannu in recent months.
Attacks on peace committee members in KP have increased in both frequency and intensity as terrorist groups consider them to be collaborators of the government. In November 2025, seven people were killed when a peace committee office was attacked in Bannu. Earlier in October, a member of the peace committee was killed during a clash with militants in the Ahmadzai area.
Federal Home Minister Mohsin Naqvi condemned the attack and expressed deep sorrow over the martyrdom of the four peace committee members. He offered his condolences to the bereaved families and reaffirmed the government’s determination to eliminate terrorism from the province.
“The cowardly actions of terrorists cannot weaken the resolve of the nation,” he said, adding that all attempts to disrupt the peace would be thwarted.
Terrorist incidents have increased in KP and Balochistan since the Taliban takeover in Afghanistan, with KP suffering more than 80 percent of the attacks, followed by Balochistan, where officials say Indian-backed groups are waging a proxy war.
Meanwhile, the army’s media wing said four terrorists were killed in an Intelligence Based Operation (IBO) in Kalat district of Balochistan. According to the ISPR, the operation was carried out against militants belonging to the Indian group Fitna al Hindustan.
“During the operation, security forces effectively targeted the terrorists’ hideout, and after an intense exchange of fire, four Indian-sponsored terrorists were sent to hell,” the statement said, adding that arms and ammunition were also recovered.
The ISPR said remediation operations were underway and promised that the anti-terror campaign under Azm-e-Istehkam would continue at full pace to eradicate foreign-sponsored terrorism from the country.
