Four people, including three police officers, were reportedly martyred near Lachi Toll Plaza on the Kohat Indus Highway, Geo News reported on Wednesday.

Initial reports state that unknown terrorists targeted the Lachi Toll Plaza and a security checkpost, resulting in the deaths of four individuals, including three policemen.

In response, a large number of police and Pakistan Army forces reached the area. They cordoned off the vicinity and initiated a search operation to locate the terrorists.

Terrorists were believed to be holed up in the nearby mountainous area. When contacted, police said the terrorists would be arrested in the ongoing search operation. 

The attack comes two days after a Pakistan Army soldier embraced martyrdom in an exchange of fire with terrorists in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s North Waziristan district, according to the military’s media wing.

The Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) said that the security forces effectively engaged terrorists’ location and apprehended one terrorist in injured condition.

“However, during an intense exchange of fire, Havildar Muhammad Zahir, 41, resident of District Mardan, having fought gallantly, embraced Shahadat.”

The ISPR further said that a sanitisation operation was being carried out to eliminate any terrorists found in the area.

“Security Forces of Pakistan are determined to eliminate the menace of terrorism and such sacrifices of our brave soldiers further strengthen our resolve,” read the statement.

According to the statistics issued by the Department of Interior and Tribal Affairs KP, the areas most affected by terrorism include Peshawar, Khyber, Bajaur, and Tank while Dera Ismail Khan and North Waziristan and South Waziristan are included in the terror-affected areas.

The documents of the Home and Tribal areas revealed that a total of 1,050 incidents of terrorism took place in KP last year while 419 incidents of terrorism took place in the arranged districts, 631 incidents in the merged districts.

A total of 61 incidents of terrorism took place in Peshawar last year and the highest 201 incidents of terrorism occurred in North Waziristan besides 169 incidents took place in Khyber, 121 in South Waziristan, 98 in Dera Ismail Khan, 62 in Bajaur and 61 in Tank respectively.

During these incidents of terrorism, 470 security personnel and civilians have been martyred in the KP alone the previous year, including 106 security personnel in Peshawar with four security personnel killed in the Bajaur incident, 28 in Khyber, 36 in North Waziristan and 29 in South Waziristan, the document revealed.