Two attacks on North Waziristan police in the space of 72 hours have exposed how deeply militant violence has taken root in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa even under emergency rule. Additional Station House Officer Meera Khan was martyred near the Miranshah Bypass on Tuesday evening, two days after gunmen targeted District Police Officer Sajjad Hussain’s vehicle on the Mirali Bypass despite an active curfew. The assaults coincide with new data showing an 83 per cent jump in violence-linked fatalities across Pakistan in the third quarter of 2026.
Two attacks in 72 hours
Khan, the additional SHO of Miranshah police station, was on duty when unidentified armed men opened fire on him near the Miranshah Bypass on Tuesday evening. He sustained multiple bullet wounds and died at the scene, police said. His body was taken to Miranshah hospital. DPO Sajjad Hussain confirmed the incident and said a search operation had been launched to trace the attackers, adding that the force’s morale remained high.
Two days earlier, on Sunday, gunmen targeted the vehicle of DPO Hussain himself on the Mirali Bypass. The DPO and his security squad escaped unhurt. What makes that attack alarming is the setting: a curfew was in force in Mirali and the surrounding areas, with movement along the bypass restricted and security personnel deployed at multiple points. The attackers struck anyway, and police tightened security further in the district.
Both incidents remain under investigation, with police saying the identities and motives of the assailants are not yet established.
The numbers behind the violence
The bloodshed is part of a sharp national escalation. A report from the Centre for Research and Security Studies (CRSS) shows Pakistan recorded an 83 per cent increase in violence-linked fatalities during the third quarter of 2026, reversing the declining trend of the first two quarters as both terrorism and counter-terrorism deaths surged nationwide. Balochistan recorded 829 deaths, nearly 59 per cent of the national total, while Khyber Pakhtunkhwa reported 556 fatalities, more than 39 per cent. Together, the two provinces account for 98 per cent of all fatalities in the period.
October has already been brutal for KP’s police. On October 7, seven policemen were injured when terrorists attacked a police checkpost in Kohat. A day earlier, four Federal Board of Revenue officials were martyred in a firing incident, while a separate attack on a highway traffic police vehicle in Dera Ismail Khan left one policeman martyred and another injured, according to Dawn. The contrast with Balochistan’s 72-hour operation trail that killed twelve terrorists shows how differently the two provinces are fighting the same war.
An emergency that has not stopped the attacks
The attacks come days after the federal government imposed emergency and governor’s rule in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa on October 11 under Articles 232 and 234 of the Constitution, citing the provincial government’s disengagement from the fight against terrorism. The Peshawar High Court on Tuesday issued notices to the federal government, the attorney general and the KP advocate general on petitions challenging the move, including the Peshawar High Court challenge to the KP emergency filed by PTI chairman Barrister Gohar Ali Khan, National Democratic Movement leaders and opposition alliance leaders. The bench adjourned the hearing until November 10.
Meanwhile, Balochistan’s government pushed back on Tuesday against comparisons with KP. Home Minister Mir Ziaullah Langau said the province was cooperating with the Centre on counter-terrorism, telling a Quetta press conference that security forces had carried out more than 60,000 intelligence-based operations and raids over the past two years, killing 1,100 suspected terrorists and arresting 450 others.
North Waziristan remains the frontline
North Waziristan, bordering Afghanistan, has long been a hub of militant activity, and the district’s police are bearing the brunt of it. Officers have been repeatedly targeted in gun attacks across the district this year, even as security forces conduct intelligence-based operations against the banned Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), referred to officially as Fitna al-Khwarij. Earlier this month, a North Waziristan operation that killed nine terrorists destroyed militant hideouts in Mir Ali and its surroundings, underlining how contested the district remains.
What happens next
Police have launched search operations in Miranshah and Mirali and say investigations are underway into both attacks. The next legal milestone is November 10, when the Peshawar High Court resumes hearing the petitions against the KP emergency, a decision that will determine who governs the province while it battles this violence. On the ground, curfews and checkpoints remain in force in parts of North Waziristan, but the past three days show militants can strike through them. For the latest national news from Pakistan, follow our coverage.
