ISLAMABAD, Pakistan — Ten police officers were killed in a militant attack on a checkpoint in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in southwestern Pakistan, officials said Friday, in the latest assault underscoring the rising tide of militancy across the region.
The attack occurred in the Dera Ismail Khan district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, when a group of roughly 20 to 25 militants launched an assault on a post manned by the Frontier Constabulary, a paramilitary force supporting police operations in Pakistan’s northwest.
The officers were killed following an intense gun battle that lasted nearly an hour, according to a senior intelligence official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the matter publicly.
“Ten Frontier Constabulary personnel were martyred, and seven were wounded during the attack,” the official said.
The Pakistani Taliban, also known as Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan, claimed responsibility for the assault.
The group has ramped up attacks on security forces since the Taliban seized control of Kabul in August 2021, a development that has emboldened the Pakistani Taliban, who share similar ideological roots.
A Frontier Constabulary official confirmed the incident under the same condition of anonymity, saying the attack took place about 70 kilometers, or about 43 miles, east of the Afghan border. Officials also reported a separate attack late Thursday in the Khyber district, where one police officer was killed in a skirmish near the border.
Last month, a roadside bomb targeted a police convoy escorting foreign ambassadors in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, killing a policeman and highlighting the mounting risks for security personnel stationed near the porous and volatile border.
