A senior superintendent of police and two high-ranking military officers were killed and three policemen injured in a brazen militant attack in Chilas district of Gilgit-Baltistan province early on Tuesday.
“The militants ambushed the convoy of SSP at a very hard ascent on silk route,” police official Zakir Hussain said while talking to Pakistan Today over telephone.
He said as a result of indiscriminate firing, SSP Hilal Ahmad, Col Ghulam Mustafa and Captain Ashfaq sustained several bullets injuries. Their vehicle went out of control and fell into a ditch.
Hussain said Col Ghulam Mustafa breathed his last on the spot while SSP Hilal Ahmad and Captain Ashfaq succumbed to injuries in civil hospital.
Three others, including the driver and body guards of SSP Hilal Ahmad, were injured in the attack. Conditions of all three injured is out of danger, Hussain added.
According to Hussain, SSP Hilal Ahmad, Col Ghulam Mustafa and Captain Ashfaq Ahmad were returning after attending a meeting at the residence of Chilas deputy commissioner. The meeting, attended by civil officers and high-ups from law enforcement agencies, was convened in connection with security arrangements for Eidul Fitr.
Soon after the attack, civil, military and police officers held an emergency meeting and a search operation was ordered.
Hussain said the operation was still in progress and several suspects had been apprehended.
He said it was a terrorist act and efforts were under way for netting out terrorists involved in the attack.
Hussain said the bodies of all three victims had been dispatched to their native cities and towns after funeral in Chilas.
SSP Hilal Ahmad belonged to Barikot area of Swat and was considered among the efficient officers of the force.