Two cops, civilian killed in northwest Pakistan's Lakki Marwat district

Islamabad [Pakistan], January 7 : Two Pakistani police personnel and a civilian were killed in separate militant attacks in the Lakki Marwat district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province.
Two men in their 40s, including a police officer, lost their lives when armed motorcyclists attacked them near the Paharkhel Thall area in Lakki Marwat, the Dawn reported.
"As soon as Younas Khan and Asmatullah riding a motorcycle reached Manjiwala link road from Paharkhel Thall village, two armed motorcyclists opened fire on them," a police officer was quoted as saying by the Pakistani newspaper.
In a separate incident, a police constable was killed and another was injured in an attack in the Bhittani sub-division of Lakki Marwat late on Thursday night.
The policemen came under attack within the limits of Shadikhel police station while they were on the way to the Wargarey police station to assist their colleagues, who were attacked by a group of terrorists.
The Dawn report said this was the third attack on the police in the Lakki Marwat district over the last one week.
Earlier this month, a terrorist was killed and a police constable was killed when terrorists attacked a police check-post in the Shahbazkhel area of the district.
The surge in militant attacks comes amid rising presence of Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) in the country.
In its annual report, the Centre for Research and Security Studies (CRSS) said the Pakistan security forces lost at least 282 personnel during 2022 in attacks, whicg included IED ambushes, suicide attacks, and raids on security posts, mostly in the Pakistan-Afghan border regions.
"The year 2022 ended with the deadliest month (thus far) for Pakistan's security personnel over a decade, with the emergence of a new terror triad comprising TTP, Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA) and Daesh-Afghanistan as the biggest threat to the country," the CRSS report said.
December 2022 alone saw 40 fatalities as it became the year's deadliest month.