https://arab.news/wubhc
- Gunmen attacked a check post in Shangla district in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province with guns and hand grenades
- Such attacks are rising in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, with most claimed by Pakistan’s indigenous Taliban movement
PESHAWAR: Two policemen were killed and three injured in an attack on a check post in Pakistan’s northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province in the latest incident of suspected militant violence in the restive region bordering Afghanistan, police said on Tuesday.
Such attacks have been on the rise in KP in recent months, with most claimed by Pakistan’s indigenous Taliban movement, the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), and other militant groups that target security forces’ convoys and check posts and carry out daily targeted killings and kidnappings of law enforcers and government officials.
The TTP is a separate group but a close ally of the Afghan Taliban who rule Kabul.
“At around 11pm last night [Monday], terrorists attacked a check post which left two police officers martyred, and three policemen injured,” police official Maqbool Ahmed told Arab News on Tuesday, saying the assault took place in the Chakesar area of the province’s Shangla district, with militants hurling hand grenades at the post and opening fire in a drive-by attack.
No group has as yet claimed the attack.
Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi condemned the attack, a report published in state broadcaster Radio Pakistan said, identifying the deceased cops as Assistant Sub Inspector Hassan Khan and Head Constable Nisar Khan.
Pakistan has frequently accused neighboring Afghanistan of sheltering and supporting militant groups like the TTP, urging the administration there to prevent its territory from being used by armed factions to launch cross-border attacks.
The Afghan Taliban deny the charge, insisting Pakistan’s security issues are an internal matter.