ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s security forces gunned down a militant involved in the killing of a police officer on census duty in the country’s northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) province, Pakistan military’s media wing confirmed on Monday.
Two police constables protecting census workers were killed on Monday in separate attacks in KP, less than two weeks after the government launched its first-ever digital population and housing census.
One of the two constables, Khan Nawab, was killed by militants’ firing while returning from census security duty in Manjhi village in Tank district, KP police said on Twitter.
The Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) said after receiving information about the attack, security forces cordoned off the area in Tank and blocked all exit routes, after which the militants were intercepted in Dera Ismail Khan district.
“In the ensuing gunfight, terrorist commander Rasheedi was killed,” ISPR said. “He was wanted by the police for being involved in numerous terrorist activities against security forces as well as the killing of innocent civilians.”
It said weapons and ammunition were also recovered from the slain militant.
The census exercise, which kicked off on March 1, will aim to securely gather demographic data on every individual ahead of this year’s parliamentary elections.
The results of the digital census will be announced next month, according to Pakistan’s Bureau of Statistics, which is conducting the census amid tight security.