Hangu: At least three policemen lost their lives while two others sustained injuries in a militant attack targeting a check post in Pakistan's northern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KPK) province bordering Afghanistan, said officials on Thursday.
According to Kuwait News Agency, a statement issued by the provincial Counter-Terrorism Department (CTD) detailed that "terrorists" carried out an attack on the Qazi Talab check post in Hangu district of KPK late on Wednesday night. The statement emphasized the bravery of a senior police official who led the operation against the attackers and noted that the police personnel stood resolutely in the face of the assault.
The CTD statement reported that "intense fighting" persisted between police forces and the terrorists for two hours. While the exchange resulted in several terrorist casualties, the attackers used the darkness and rugged terrain to retreat, taking their casualties with them. However, police recovered the body of an armed terrorist during a subsequent search and strike operation.
Pakistan's Federal Interior Minister, Mohsin Naqvi, condemned the attack on the Hangu check post. He paid tribute to the police officers who lost their lives and extended condolences to their families. Naqvi asserted that the sacrifices made by the martyred officers would not be in vain and underscored Pakistan's determination in combating terrorism. Earlier in the week, security forces had killed 22 militants in an intelligence-based operation in the Bannu District of KPK, amid a rise in terror activities in the KPK and Balochistan provinces bordering Afghanistan.