Five Pakistani police personnel were killed yesterday when their van was ambushed in a bombing and shooting attack in the country’s northwest, provincial police said, as Pakistan struggles with a resurgence of militant violence.
The Pakistani Taliban, known as Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), a militant group, later claimed responsibility for the attack. The group has waged war against the Pakistani state for nearly 20 years.
Provincial police said the vehicle was first targeted with improvised explosives before the attackers opened fire, killing four officers and the driver. They later said security forces had killed eight of the militants involved.
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif condemned the attack, saying: “Police have always played a frontline role in the war against terrorism.”
The attack in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province’s Karak district, a region relatively unscathed by militant attacks, comes as relations between Pakistan and neighbouring Afghanistan have collapsed after a surge in violence.
Earlier this month, one police constable was killed while five others were injured in a suicide blast that targeted a police vehicle in the Lakki Marwat district.
Similarly, three police personnel were killed in November when militants attacked a checkpost in Hangu city.
Pakistan has blamed Afghanistan for facilitating cross-border attacks against its security forces and turning a blind eye to the TTP’s activities on its soil.
Afghanistan rejects the allegations and says it cannot be held responsible for Islamabad’s security lapses.
The countries have struggled to maintain a truce following their worst border clashes since the Taliban came to power in October.
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