Pakistan: 11 police officers, 15 terrorists killed in KP as Munir tries to control PoK

Virendra Pandit

New Delhi: At least 11 officers were killed and many others injured when unidentified terrorists attacked a police post in northwest Pakistan's Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province while the bankrupt country's army tried to control the ongoing uprising in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) where it has killed nearly 100 people in recent weeks, the media reported on Thursday.

Security forces engaged in an hours-long gun battle with the attackers, killing 15 of them while sustaining heavy casualties, said local police.

Pakistan's Defense Minister Khawaja Abbas has blamed India for 'helping' insurgents in PoK, which Islamabad claims is “Azad Kashmir.”

According to reports, an ambush on a police checkpoint in Pakistan's northwestern KP province killed at least 11 police officers and injured dozens.

The attack late on Wednesday took place in the Hangu district near the Afghan border. The attackers first used explosive-laden quadcopters to target the police post before ambushing it, police said.

In addition, 28 policemen were hospitalized with injuries.

Attackers set three police cars alight and took another police vehicle.

No group has claimed responsibility for the latest attack, which came days after a deadly suicide bombing targeting Pakistani soldiers in the nearby district of Tank. The Pakistan Taliban, known by the acronym TTP, had claimed responsibility for ⁠the suicide attack.

Police blamed TTK for the Hangu checkpoint attack.

Violence in Pakistan's border areas has risen sharply in recent months, targeting mainly the military and police after an armed conflict between Pakistan and Afghanistan killed hundreds earlier this year.

Al Jazeera reported a spike in attacks targeting police and security forces along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border.

Islamabad claims fighters use safe havens in Afghanistan to train and plan attacks in Pakistan. Afghanistan's Taliban government has denied the charge and said the unrest is Pakistan's domestic problem.

The Pakistan Taliban has been waging ⁠a rebellion against the Pakistani state since 2007 in an attempt to overthrow the government and replace it with their own brand of Islamist governance.