Pakistan: Abductions in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa reveal crumbling state control and rising militant confidence

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa [Pakistan] October 8 Four government officials, including two schoolteachers and two staffers, were allegedly kidnapped by armed militants from different areas in Bannu district, officials stated, as reported by Dawn.
According to Dawn, the two teachers were abducted from Government High School Zindi Musa Khan in the Mandati Naika Zyarat area, which falls under the jurisdiction of the Hoid police station. District Police Officer (DPO) Saleem Abbas Kulachi informed that the region has remained under consistent militant threat, with the Hoid police station facing multiple attacks in recent months.
DPO Kulachi said unidentified gunmen intercepted the teachers while they were returning from school and took them to an unknown location. The abductees were identified as the headmaster of the school, who hailed from Nekam Kaki, and a senior teacher from Bannu, police spokesperson Kashif Nawaz stated. He added that security forces have launched a large-scale search operation in the surrounding areas to ensure the safe recovery of the kidnapped educators.
Confirming a separate incident, DPO Kulachi stated that a group of 15-20 militants stormed a BISP payment disbursement point in the district, where they abducted two staff members.
Assistant Director Safiullah and Supervisor Shah Khalid. The official stated that the militants escaped with an undisclosed sum of money after the abduction. These back-to-back incidents come amid a growing surge in militant attacks across Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. Bannu, along with Peshawar, Karak, Lakki Marwat, and Bajaur, has seen repeated acts of terrorism in recent weeks, as highlighted by Dawn.
Just two days earlier, a soldier was martyred and another injured in a gun attack near Bannu. In August, a police constable was killed in an assault on a checkpoint in the same district, which also resulted in the deaths of three militants and injuries to three police personnel, as reported by Dawn.