3 cops martyred, 4 injured as unknown assailants open fire on police vehicle in GB’s Diamer: minister

Three cops were martyred and four others were injured on Saturday after unknown assailants opened fire on a police vehicle in Gilgit-Baltistan’s Diamer district, a minister said.

The police team was on its way back from Thor village after destroying poppy cultivation when unidentified assailants opened indiscriminate fire on the vehicle, Home Minister Sajid Baig told Dawn.

As a result, three police officials were martyred and four others, including an officer, were injured.

An exchange of fire between the police and the miscreants continued for several hours. An additional contingent of police and law enforcement personnel had been sent to the site of the incident, Baig said.

The minister noted that the police team was attacked when returning from a two-day operation to destroy poppy crops “spread over a vast area of land”.

Meanwhile, considering the situation, the health ministry declared an emergency in the local hospitals of Diamer and directed the doctors and paramedical staff to remain alert.

Shabbir Ahmed Mir, spokesperson for the chief minister, told Dawn that a deputy superintendent of police (DSFP) was also injured in the incident.

Every year, the poppy crop is harvested in the area to prepare opium, while police conduct operations to destroy the crops.

Separately, in multiple tehsils of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa — including Baranj tehsin in Bajaur, Bittani subdivison of Lakki Marwat district, Mohmand tribal district and mountainous areas of Raza tehsil in Swabi — the police had destroyed the poppy crops.