- Two police officers were also injured in the attack.
- Between 20 and 25 gunmen opened fire on the security squad.
- PHC CJ Ishtiaq Ibrahim calls for emergency meeting.
DERA ISMAIL KHAN/PESHAWAR: Two policemen were killed when a convoy of judges was attacked by militants at a junction between Tank and Dera Ismail Khan, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, News reported on Saturday.
Militants were reportedly lying in wait to attack the police squad sent to provide security to judges serving in South Waziristan and Tank.
South Waziristan Additional District and Sessions Judge Malik Asghar, Tank Additional District and Sessions Judge Malik Husnain and Senior Civil Judge Mahjabeen were returning to DI Khan after their work at the camp office in Tank when 20-25 gunmen opened fire on their security squad.
Two policemen, Abdul Samad and Abdullah, were killed and several others were injured in the attack. Meanwhile, the judges escaped unharmed from the attack.
The other members of the squad returned fire and forced the attackers to flee the area. According to sources, the exchange of fire between the police and the militants lasted for almost 30 minutes.
The three judges are said to be DI Khan's. The attackers took a police van and drove it to Cheena village in Tank where they set the vehicle on fire.
Meanwhile, the Peshawar High Court (PHC) summoned the provincial police chief and additional chief registrar to its home on Monday to discuss enhancing security of judicial officials following the attack on judges.
PHC Chief Justice Ishtiaq Ibrahim called an emergency meeting after learning about the tank incident.
The meeting was attended by Justice Ijaz Anwar, Justice SM Attique Shah, Justice Shakil Ahmad, Justice Syed Arshad Ali, Secretary Ikhtiar Khan and Additional Administrative Secretary Mumrez Khan Khalil. The participants of the meeting stressed the need to strengthen security arrangements for judicial officials in the merged districts.
It was stated that the safety of judicial officers would not be compromised and any negligence in this regard would not be tolerated.
The country, during the second quarter of 2024, witnessed 380 violence-related deaths and 220 injuries among civilians, security personnel and criminals, as a result of up to 240 incidents of terrorist attacks and counter-terrorism operations, according to an annual security report by the Center for Research and Security Studies (CRSS).
This includes 236 deaths among civilians and security forces personnel, according to the report.
KP and Balochistan, which share borders with neighbouring Afghanistan, have borne the brunt of terrorist attacks, reporting nearly 92% of all deaths and 87% of attacks (the former suffering 67% and the latter 25% of all deaths in Q2 2024).
