ISLAMABAD: Relatives and senior police and government officials offered funeral prayers for victims of a deadly attack in Pakistan’s northwestern Tank district on Friday, police said, with the deceased given full state honors.
Fifteen people, including 12 soldiers, two policemen and a government official, were killed after militants attacked a joint police and security forces check post in Tank, the military said on Friday, in one of the deadliest assaults in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) province in recent weeks.
The military said security forces killed 12 militants during the overnight attack, which began when the assailants attempted to storm the check post before detonating an explosives-laden vehicle that severely damaged the facility.
The KP police chief and chief secretary were among top officials who attended funeral prayers for the victims of the attack, according to the KP police.
“Funeral prayers of Manji Khel Check Post martyrs offered with state honors at Police Lines Tank,” the police said on X, adding that the police chief and chief secretary also inquired after injured personnel and handed them cheques as financial assistance.
KP, which borders Afghanistan, has seen a surge in militancy in recent years, with the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and other militant groups frequently targeting police and security forces’ convoys and check-posts.
Earlier this month, two policemen were killed and two others sustained injuries in the wake of a roadside blast, which police said targeted an armored personnel carrier in Tank.
Pakistan blames the surge in militancy in its western regions on militants operating out of Afghanistan, an allegation denied by Kabul. The attacks have soured relations between Islamabad and Kabul, leading to fierce clashes between both sides since February this year.
