Militants targeted the Khazina police post in Hangu district in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, leaving 11 police officers and 15 attackers dead.
The death toll from an overnight deadly militant attack on the Khazina police post in northwestern Pakistan rose to 11 early Thursday, police and a government official said, with security forces killing 15 militants in an hourlong gunbattle after they targeted the police post in Hangu district in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, which borders Afghanistan.
Police official Irfan Khan reported the final count.
Police said the militants attacked the police post with heavy weapons.
Reinforcements dispatched to the scene were ambushed en route, damaging an armored personnel carrier before officers fought back, according to the statement.
Among those killed was Diyar Khan, a senior police officer who led reinforcements to the scene, according to a provincial police statement.
More than two dozen police officers were also wounded in the attack.
No group immediately claimed responsibility for the assault.
Suspicion is likely to fall on the Pakistani Taliban, known as Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan, or TTP, which has stepped up attacks on Pakistani security forces in the region in recent months.
Inspector General of Police Zulfiqar Hameed said at least 15 militants were killed and several others injured during the police operation following the attack, noting that militants belonging to the banned group referred to as Khawarij attacked the Khazina Banda check post with heavy weapons.
Police personnel deployed at the post responded with strong resistance and defended the position against the attackers.
Additional police forces were dispatched under the command of the Sub-Divisional Police Officer to assist the personnel stationed at the check post, however, the reinforcement team came under attack after militants ambushed them on the way.
The attack caused significant damage to an armoured personnel carrier travelling with the police convoy.
Paying tribute to the police personnel, Zulfiqar Hameed said, “The sons of the K-P police stood like rocks against the enemy under extremely difficult and nerve-racking circumstances and embraced martyrdom.”
He said recommendations would be made for the department’s highest honours for the martyred personnel and added that he would personally meet the families of the martyrs to offer condolences and pay tribute to the injured officers and personnel.
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Police Inspector General Zulfiqar Hameed visited the Lady Reading Hospital in Peshawar to inquire about the health of police personnel injured in the clash, telling injured officers, “You are our national heroes. The courage and bravery you showed was outstanding. Your spirit and courage are an example for the entire force,” according to a post on the force’s official X account.
Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi strongly condemned the attack on the check post in Hangu, offering his condolences to the families of the martyred officials and praying for the recovery of the injured.
KP Information Minister Shafi Jan also condemned the “cowardly” attack in a post on X and expressed grief over the deaths of policemen, paying tribute to the martyred cops and saying that terrorists would not succeed in achieving their nefarious objectives.
The attackers first used explosive-laden quadcopters to target the police post before ambushing it, according to a police statement.
Security forces engaged in an hours-long gun battle with the attackers, killing 15 of them while sustaining heavy casualties.
In the viral moment that sparked official inquiries, early reports showed the scale of the assault evolving throughout the morning.
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Police initially reported that four militants had been killed and that the operation was ongoing, according to a post on the force’s official X account.
As reinforcements engaged the attackers and the gunbattle continued, security forces ultimately killed all 15 militants involved in the assault.
Deputy Superintendent of Police Diyar Khan was martyred while fighting the attackers, with a total of nine police personnel losing their lives and 28 others, including DSP Mujahid Hussain, injured.
The attack came days after a suicide bombing killed 15, including 12 Pakistani army soldiers in the nearby district of Tank, with the TTP claiming responsibility for that attack.
Pakistan has witnessed a surge in militant violence in recent years, much of it blamed on the TTP, a close ally of the Afghan Taliban, who returned to power in neighbouring Afghanistan in 2021.