April 19 (EUROPA PRESS) –
At least five customs agents were shot dead this Thursday while carrying out an Intelligence operation in the town of Dera Ismail Khan, located in the Pakistani province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, in the north of the country.
“Today, around 3:30 p.m. (local time), five officials of the Directorate of Intelligence and Investigation of Customs embraced martyrdom when they were shot at by unknown assailants,” reads a statement from the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR). its acronym in English) published on its website.
The authorities have explained that, in “the line of duty,” they were “ambushed by unknown assailants in a cowardly attack and shot with automatic weapons.” “Despite everything, they remained committed to their mission, serving the nation with honor and distinction. Their courage in the face of adversity serves as a shining example of bravery,” he added.
“The Pakistan Customs Service firmly resolves to continue serving Pakistan and contributing to the well-being of the nation,” the letter reads, adding that they have extended their condolences to the loved ones of the victims.
As reported by the Pakistani television network Geo, in addition to the five customs agents, there is one civilian dead. On the other hand, the attackers fled the scene.
Pakistan has witnessed an increase in terrorist activities – especially on the border with Afghanistan – over the past year after the Pakistani Taliban, Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), announced in late November the end of the ceasefire agreed with the authorities amid contacts mediated by the Afghan Taliban after their takeover of power in Afghanistan in August 2021.
The TTP group, which differs from the Afghan Taliban in organizational matters but follows the same rigorous interpretation of Sunni Islam, brings together more than a dozen Islamist militant groups operating in Pakistan, where they have killed some 70,000 people in two decades of violence.
