• Cops taken to hospital, but succumbed to wounds.
• Police arrest two “suspected” men from crime scene.
• Search operation underway to round up more suspects.

SWAT: Unidentified gunmen shot dead two policemen in Swat’s Mingora, officials confirmed Thursday morning, as the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa battles terrorism which has witnessed an increase in recent months.

The outlawed militant organisation, Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), has upped attacks against security forces since it ended the ceasefire with Islamabad in November last year.

In response, the Pakistani security forces have increased their operations against militants as they seek to root out the menace of terrorism, which was crushed in the recent past.

Both constables — Umra Khan and Ashraf Ali — were shot near Mingora’s Sabzi Mandi area in the morning hours, the police said, and were taken to a nearby hospital where they succumbed to their wounds.

After cordoning off the site, the police kicked off a search operation and detained two “suspects” from the area.

The police added that there are also reports of three armed attackers — involved in the shootout — being on the run and measures are in the works to apprehend them.

The Swat incident comes after an attack on a police post in Peshawar’s Sarband area late Tuesday night following the killing of a militant in Matani.

According to The News, heavy firing was reported from both sides as the alert cops retaliated; however, the law enforcers suffered no casualty.

Some reports said a rocket was fired on the remote post.

The police stations and posts in this part of Peshawar have come under attack a number of times with automatic weapons and grenades in the last two years.