Punjab police foil terror attack on Mianwali police station

MIANWALI: The Punjab police on Tuesday night foiled a major ‘terrorist attack’ at a police station in the Isakkhel district of Mianwali, ARY News reported.

In a statement, District Police Officer (DPO) Mianwali said that a group of 20 to 25 heavily armed insurgents attacked the Makerwal police station in Isakkhel district.

However, the DPO said, the terrorists were forced to flee after an exchange of heavy gunfire. “A few terrorists also were also injured in the retaliatory firing by the police,” the official said.

Meanwhile, Inspector General Police (IGP) Punjab Dr Usman Anwar constituted a four-member committee to probe the terror attack. The four-member team includes Additional IG Training, DIG IT and officials from Special Branch and Operations.

The committee will plan search and combing operations against terrorists in collaboration with Regional Police Officer (RPO) Sargodha. He also directed to launch search and combing operations in adjacent areas of Makerwal police station. \

The terrorist attack came a day after a powerful blast triggered by a suicide attack rocked a mosque in Peshawar’s Police Lines during the afternoon prayers.

According to the latest figures, at least 100 people have been confirmed to have lost their lives in the attack, while almost 169 people were wounded.

Security officials said the explosion took place around 1:40pm on Monday as Zuhr prayers were being offered as a result of which the roof of the mosque caved in. The rescue operation is still underway at the mosque site to retrieve the victims.

The outlawed Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) has claimed responsibility for the blast at a mosque in Peshawar’s Police Lines.

Earlier in the day, Pakistan Army’s top brass vowed to bring perpetrators of Peshawar mosque suicide blast, which claimed lives of almost 100 people, to exemplary justice.

The army chief was quoted as saying: “Such immoral and cowardly acts cannot shake resolve of the nation rather reinvigorate our determination to succeed in ongoing war against terror with Zero tolerance for any terrorist entity.”

COAS Asim Munir directed all commanders to continue focus on anti-terrorism operations in coordination with intelligence and law enforcement agencies with renewed resolve till the time we achieve sustainable peace.