BAJAUR: Four cops were martyred and two others were wounded when unidentified attackers opened fire at a patrol party in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Bajaur district on Wednesday evening.

Khar Police Station House Officer Gul Zada told Dawn that the attackers targeted the Ababeel Squad — an exclusive patrolling force — at the time of Iftar near the Nawai Kallay area.

The squad was on a routine patrol when unidentified attackers opened fire on them, he said, adding that four policemen died on the spot while two others were “seriously injured”.

Separately, Bajaur police spokesperson Israr Khan told Dawn that the personnel were on their way to the Bajaur police lines from Inayat Kallay bazaar, with their duty hours about to end, when they were attacked.

As a result, four cops — Yar Zada, Dawood Khan, Imran Khan and Siraj Khan — were martyred while Irshad Khan and Azizur Rehman were injured, he added.

SHO Gul Zada said the injured policemen were immediately taken to the district headquarters hospital in Khar for treatment.

Meanwhile, a police team led by senior officials immediately rushed to the site of the incident and launched a search operation to hunt down the attackers, who had fled after the shooting, Israr Khan said.

The attack in Bajaur took place a day after seven police personnel were martyred in two attacks in KP, where law enforcers have increasingly come under attack in recent days.

On Tuesday, six law enforcement personnel, including Deputy Superintendent of Police Asad Mehmood, were martyred in a terrorist attack on a police vehicle in Kohat district.

A police officer told Dawn that the DSP, an inspector and four constables were martyred when their vehicle was ambushed near Shakardara Road while transporting two individuals for a court appearance. One of the two individuals being transported was also killed in the attack. The assailants later set the vehicle on fire.

In a separate incident, a constable was martyred after unidentified men opened fire in the Mughal Khel village of Wana tehsil in Lower South Waziristan.

On Monday, three Federal Constabulary men were martyred when terrorists attacked rescue teams in the Karak district. Last week, a terrorist attack involving an explosive-laden vehicle on a checkpost in Bajaur district resulted in the martyrdom of 11 security personnel.