PESHAWAR: Unidentified armed men shot dead a constable in Pakistan’s northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) on Thursday, police said amid a rise in militant attacks in the province bordering Afghanistan. 

The incident took place in KP province’s Bannu district on Thursday morning, police official Bashir Khan said, when unidentified gunmen on a motorcycle shot dead constable Abdul Qudoos in Domail town. Khan said a large police contingent was dispatched to the town to gather information and trace the perpetrators of the attack immediately after the incident occurred.

“The sacrifice rendered by the martyr will not be in vain and those responsible for the killing would face justice,” Khan said, quoting the deputy inspector general (DIG) of police. 

He said Qudoos’ body was dispatched to his native village for burial with full honors.

No group has claimed responsibility for the attack. However, the Pakistani Taliban or the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) have claimed responsibility for similar attacks targeting law enforcement personnel in the past. 

The TTP has carried out some of the deadliest attacks against Pakistani police, security forces and civilians since 2007, as it battles the state to impose its strict brand of Islamic law across the country. 

The TTP has increased its attacks on Pakistani security forces, especially after a fragile truce between the state and the militant group broke down in November 2022. Pakistan’s military has also increased its intelligence-based operations against militants in KP and Balochistan provinces. 

The military’s media wing announced that security forces killed 13 militants in the northwestern Dera Ismail Khan district on Wednesday. It said the slain militants were actively involved in numerous “terrorist” activities, which included facilitating a suicide bombing in December 2023 that killed 23.

Surging militant attacks in KP have also strained Pakistan’s ties with Afghanistan, as Islamabad blames Kabul for not taking action against militant outfits it alleges operate from sanctuaries in Afghan soil. Afghanistan denies the allegations and urges Pakistan to resolve its security challenges internally.