A police official was martyred on Wednesday after terrorists opened fire in Wana Bazaar, the main commercial area of South Waziristan Lower district, local sources said.
The martyred policeman was identified as Islamuddin. He sustained critical bullet wounds in the attack and was rushed to the District Headquarters Hospital in Wana, where he succumbed to his injuries. His body was later shifted to the hospital for medico-legal formalities.
Following the incident, security forces and police contingents swiftly reached the site, cordoned off the area, and launched a search operation to trace the attackers. Checkpoints were set up at key entry and exit points of the bazaar, while surveillance was intensified to prevent the assailants from escaping.
The attack comes amid a surge in militant violence in the former tribal districts, which Pakistan says is being orchestrated from across the border. Islamabad has repeatedly maintained that Afghan soil is being used for planning and executing attacks inside Pakistan, a claim it says is backed by irrefutable intelligence and operational evidence.
The Wana incident has renewed focus on cross-border terrorism, particularly after recent developments linked to the deadly attack on Wana Cadet College. Afghan security authorities have recently confirmed that at least one of the attackers involved in the cadet college assault was an Afghan national. Pakistani authorities, however, assert that all five assailants who carried out the attack were Afghan nationals, rejecting suggestions that only one foreign element was involved.
Security officials say militant networks operating from Afghanistan have intensified attacks on civilian and security targets in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan, exploiting porous border areas and sanctuaries across the border. Pakistan has repeatedly urged the Afghan interim authorities to take decisive action against such groups and prevent their territory from being used against Pakistan.
Investigations into the Wana bazaar attack are underway, and officials say further details will be shared once the inquiry progresses.
