Attack On Northwest Pakistan Police Post Kills 11 Officers
PESHAWAR — An ambush on a police checkpoint in Pakistan’s northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province has killed at least 11 police officers and injured dozens. The attack occurred late on Wednesday in the Hangu district near the Afghan border. According to a police statement, attackers first used explosive-laden quadcopters to target the police post before launching a ground assault.
Security forces engaged in an hours-long gun battle with the attackers and killed 15 of them. However, police sustained heavy casualties. In addition to the 11 officers killed, 28 were hospitalised with injuries. Among those killed was Deputy Superintendent Diyar Khan, who had led reinforcements to the scene. District police officer Mujahid Hussain said attackers set three police cars alight and took another police vehicle.No group has claimed responsibility for the attack. It comes days after a deadly suicide bombing targeting Pakistani soldiers in the nearby district of Tank, which was claimed by the Pakistan Taliban, known as TTP.
Violence in Pakistan’s border areas has increased sharply in recent months, mainly targeting the military and police, following an armed conflict between Pakistan and Afghanistan earlier this year that killed hundreds. Al Jazeera’s Kamal Hyder reported from Islamabad that there has been a spike in attacks along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border. Islamabad accuses fighters of using safe havens in Afghanistan to plan attacks, while Afghanistan’s Taliban government denies the claims and calls it Pakistan’s domestic problem. The Pakistan Taliban has been waging a rebellion against the Pakistani state since 2007, seeking to overthrow the government.
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