Ashrafuddin Pirzada
LANDIKOTAL: A police officer was martyred while two others sustained bullet injuries when outlaws opened fire on a police party in Ali Masjid locality of Jamrud tehsil in district Khyber, officials said on Sunday.
Station House Officer Jamrud Amjad Afridi told reporters that they had received a tip-off that smugglers would try to smuggle a huge quantity of narcotics from Jamrud.
He said as the police party reached Ali Masjid locality the alleged smugglers opened gunfire on them.
District Police Office spokesman sub-inspector Zaheer Khan told FataVoice that the gunmen believe to be criminals and narcotics smugglers ambushed the police van to search vehicles in Ali Masjid.
The alleged criminals fled the scene before they receive the police response. As result, an assistant sub-inspector Niaz Muhammad Afridi martyred on the spot, police said. 
It may be added here that a few years ago another brother of Niaz Muhammad who was also serving in the police force had been killed by unknown gunmen in Jamrud.
Two other cops identified as assistant sub-inspector Shakoor Khan Afridi and assistant sub-inspector Akhtar Munir Afridi sustained injuries. They were rushed to the hospital.
Shahid Khan, an elder brother of Shaoor Khan assistant sub-inspector said that luckily his brother received minor injuries in the ambush. He said one of the bullets fired by the outlaws hit the bulletproof vest worn by his brother Shaoor. He said the health condition of his brother Shaoor and his cousin assistant sub-inspector Akhtar Munir Afridi is stable.
Meanwhile, a huge contingent of police deployed and started a search operation in Ali Masjid bazaar, Zaheer said. He said so far they have not arrested any alleged killer. He said it was not clear that the gunmen who assaulted were criminals or outlaws.
It may be added here that several people have so far been killed while many injured in the past few days in different incidents including target killings and land disputes in district Khyber.
