PESHAWAR: Eight militants and five cops were killed after when a group of gunmen ambushed a police van in Pakistan’s northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) province, a police official said on Tuesday.
Over a dozen gunmen ambushed the police van in Gurguri area of the Karak district, killing five policemen, after which reinforcements were sent to the site, according to Karak police spokesperson Shaukat Khan.
Karak police, together with the counter-terrorism department (CTD), conducted a joint operation to chase the militants. Consequently, eight militants were killed in a gunfight with law enforcers in the nearby hills.
“The bodies of the terrorists have been shifted to hospital for post-mortem and the identification process is underway,” Khan told Arab News.
No group immediately claimed responsibility for the attack on the police van in Gurguri, which is home to a large gas field. However, similar attacks on police and security forces have been claimed in the past by the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) or the Pakistani Taliban.
Khan identified the slain policemen as Shahid Iqbal, Arif, Sami Ullah, Safdar and Muhammad Ibrar.
Pakistan has witnessed a surge in militant activities, particularly in KP that borders Afghanistan, in recent months.
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 frequently 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.
