Two brothers, both serving police personnel, were abducted and later killed by militants in Pakistan’s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, officials said on Thursday. The incident occurred on Wednesday in Bannu district when 10 to 12 armed militants stormed a mosque during Taraveh prayers, held worshippers hostage and kidnapped three brothers. Two of the abducted men were policemen, while the third worked as a clerk in the commissioner’s office.
Police said the bodies of the two policemen were later found dumped along Marwat Canal Road. The third brother remains in militant custody, and security forces have launched a manhunt to secure his release. Eyewitnesses reported that the attackers fled to an unknown location after carrying out the abduction.
Local Chairman Masoom Wazir said he received information about two bodies lying at the site and found both victims in a pool of blood.
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The bodies were shifted to the District Headquarters Hospital. Regional Police Officer Sajjad Khan confirmed that the kidnappers were affiliated with a militant group and announced that a full-scale operation had been launched to track them down.
He vowed that the perpetrators would be brought to justice and said police and other security agencies were conducting joint search operations at multiple locations to rescue the remaining captive. He also noted that militant elements had previously used mosques as hideouts, but security forces were continuing operations to safeguard places of worship and protect citizens.
Funeral prayers for the slain policemen were offered with full state honours at the Police Lines in Bannu on Thursday. The ceremony was attended by senior police and civil administration officials, including Deputy Commissioner Muhammad Faheem Khan, as well as a large number of police personnel and local residents.
The attack comes amid a surge in violence in Bannu. On February 21, a lieutenant colonel and a sepoy were killed in a suicide bombing during an operation in the district. In recent months, Bannu has witnessed repeated attacks targeting civilians and security personnel, prompting intensified counter-terrorism operations across the region.
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