PESHAWAR: Militants killed one police officer and injured a constable in a quadcopter attack in the northwestern Hangu district on Thursday, a police official said as Islamabad grapples with surging militancy in its western provinces.
Hangu police spokesperson Saqib Khan told Arab News police launched a counterterror operation in the Sarki Payala and Chamba Gul areas of the district on Thursday. The operation lasted for more than 10 hours, as militants surrounded a police checkpost and launched coordinated attacks against them.
Khan said seven militants were killed while several others were wounded during the exchange of fire.
“The attackers also deployed a quadcopter drone to carry out a bombing, killing a senior police officer and injuring a constable,” he said.
Khan said the paramilitary Frontier Corps and Counter-Terrorism Department aided police with reinforcements during the operation. He said the situation in the district has been brought “under control.”
No group has claimed responsibility for the attack. However, Pakistani officials have said in the past that armed groups, particularly the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), are increasingly using commercial drones modified to drop explosives, alongside other weapons, to attack Pakistani law enforcers.
Pakistani officials say these weapons were acquired by militants after the US military withdrew from neighboring Afghanistan.
Islamabad blames Kabul for facilitating attacks against Pakistan. Afghanistan denies the allegations and says its soil is not used by militants to carry out attacks against Pakistan.
Militant attacks in northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa bordering Afghanistan have increased since the Taliban seized power in Kabul in 2021, straining ties between Islamabad and Kabul.
