PESHAWAR: At least nine police personnel were killed and 28 injured when militants attacked a police check post in northwestern Pakistan’s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, police said on Thursday, adding that 15 “terrorists” were also killed during the retaliatory operation.
The attack took place on Wednesday night when militants attacked the Khazana check post in Pakistan’s northwestern Hangu district bordering Afghanistan, KP Police said in a statement. Deputy Superintendent of Police Diyar Khan was also killed after militants attacked the check post with “heavy weapons,” police said.
Additional forces were dispatched to help fend off the attack by the militants but before reinforcements arrived, they were attacked by “terrorists” who were already lying in wait for them, KP Police said. An Armored Personnel Carrier (APC) was severely damaged in the attack.
“Nine police personnel have been martyred, while 28 personnel, including DSP Mujahid Hussain, have been injured,” KP Police said.
A police officer visits an injured policeman at a hospital, after a militant attack on a checkpoint in Hangu district of Pakistan’s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province on July 30, 2026. (AFP)
KP Police said 15 “khawarij,” a term the Pakistani government and military use for the Pakistani Taliban or TTP, were killed in the retaliatory action. It said several other militants were also injured.
“The confrontation between the khawarij and police is still ongoing,” police said.
No group has claimed responsibility for the attack, but the TTP has carried out similar attacks against law enforcers in KP since 2007 in a bid to impose its strict version of Islamic law across the country.
A security personnel stands guard after a militant attack on a checkpoint in Hangu district of Pakistan’s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province on July 30, 2026. (AFP)
Pakistan has witnessed a surge in militant violence in recent years, particularly after the Afghan Taliban seized power in Kabul in August 2021. Islamabad has repeatedly accused Afghanistan’s Taliban government of providing sanctuary to TTP militants, an allegation that Kabul denies.
Pakistan’s military said on Wednesday, hours before the Hangu attack, that security forces had killed 32 militants in intelligence-based operations carried out over the previous 24 hours in KP and southwestern Balochistan province.
On July 24, militants attacked a joint police and security forces check post in the northwestern Tank district, killing 15 people. This included 12 soldiers, two policemen and a government official.
