PESHAWAR: Four police officers, including a senior counterterrorism department (CTD) official, and two suspected militants were killed in a gunbattle in northwestern Pakistan on Thursday, police said, amid escalating militant violence in the region.

The clash occurred in Karak district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, where police launched a search operation after suspected militants set up a roadblock the previous night. The province, which borders Afghanistan, has witnessed repeated attacks on security personnel amid a resurgence of militancy.

“Two militants were killed in the exchange of fire, while CTD Deputy Superintendent Imranuddin Khan, Sub-Inspector Afzal Awan, the CTD deputy superintendent’s gunman Kazim and Bomb Disposal Unit official Amjad were martyred while bravely confronting the militants,” Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Police said in a statement.

Police said the gunbattle erupted when officers raided the house of suspected militant commander Qaiser Iqbal during an operation launched around noon.

The statement did not identify the militants killed. Police said the operation was continuing.

The deaths come amid a surge in militant violence across Pakistan, particularly in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and southwestern Balochistan, where security personnel have been frequent targets.

Much of the violence in Pakistan’s northwest has been blamed on the Pakistani Taliban, or Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), a militant group separate from but allied with Afghanistan’s ruling Taliban.

Islamabad accuses Afghanistan’s Taliban government of allowing TTP militants to operate from its territory, an allegation Kabul denies. The dispute has fueled tensions between the neighbors, leading to border clashes in recent months.