PESHAWAR: Seven policemen and six militants were killed in a late-night attack on a police training center in Pakistan’s restive Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) province, police said on Saturday, amid a surge in militancy in the region bordering Afghanistan.

The attack came a day after reports of airstrikes in the Afghan capital, Kabul, that reportedly sought to target Noor Wali Mehsud, chief of the Pakistani Taliban, or the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP).

The TTP initially claimed the assault on the police training center in DI Khan, saying a suicide bomber detonated an explosives-laden vehicle at the gate before others entered the facility, but later retracted the statement.

Yaqoob Khan, a DI Khan police spokesman, told Arab News the wall of the facility collapsed because of the impact of the blast and killed two policemen, followed by a fierce gunbattle both sides.

“A total of seven policemen were martyred and 13 others injured,” Khan said, adding all six militants were killed. “All 200 trainees and staff at the training center were safely evacuated.”

Pakistan has struggled to contain a surge in militancy in KP in recent years, where militant groups, mainly the TTP, frequently target security forces and have been involved in killings and kidnappings of government officials. This week, at least 12 Pakistani soldiers, including three officers, were killed in separate militant attacks in the region.

Islamabad has frequently blamed the Afghan Taliban for harboring TTP militants, saying the group launches cross-border attacks against its security forces and civilians from the Afghan soil, though Kabul has denied the allegation.

The two countries traded sharp warnings on Friday after Kabul accused Islamabad of violating its airspace and bombing a border town while the Pakistani military vowed to do “whatever is necessary” to defend Pakistan’s territorial integrity.