ISLAMABAD, Dec. 10 (Xinhua) -- A senior anti-terrorism department police officer was shot dead by unidentified gunmen in the northwestern Pakistani city of Peshawar Saturday evening, local police said.
The gunmen, riding a motorbike, fired at Riaz ul Islam, deputy superintendent of police, when he was heading home with his son after offering prayers, police sources said and added that he was shifted to the city's main hospital where doctors confirmed his death.
Islam's son was injured in the firing on the busy Charsadda Road of Peshawar, the capital of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province in northwest Pakistan.
The gunmen fled after the incident. The outlawed Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan claimed the attack. The government here blamed the attacks on the security forces.
The slain police officer was posted in the counter-terrorism department, which is mainly dealing with the terrorists, police sources said.
Thousands of security personnel have been killed during the anti-terrorism operations in Pakistan since 2004 when security forces launched major operations against armed groups in the country's tribal regions.
Officials say there is a substantial decrease in terrorist incidents across Pakistan but the remnants of the Taliban groups carry out target attacks.
