9 cops martyred, 28 injured as police checkpost comes under attack in KP's Hangu

A brazen terrorist attack on a police checkpost in Pakistan's Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province late Wednesday resulted in the deaths of nine police officers, including a deputy superintendent, and left 28 others wounded. The Khazina Banda checkpost in the Hangu district came under assault by militants identified by authorities as belonging to the banned Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), a group also referred to as Fitna al Khawarij. According to a statement from the KP Inspector General Zulfiqar Hameed, police personnel bravely responded to the ambush. Despite the deployment of additional forces, the terrorists managed to damage an armored personnel carrier. However, the police's professional response led to the killing of fifteen terrorists, with several others injured. The IG emphasized that the morale and resolve of the KP police remain strong in their ongoing battle to eradicate terrorists from the province. In a separate incident on the same night, terrorists also attacked a police checkpost in the Adezai area of Peshawar. Cops responded to the gunfire, prompting the attackers to flee without causing any casualties. Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi strongly condemned the Hangu attack, offering condolences to the families of the martyred officials and praying for the injured. Security in Pakistan has deteriorated sharply in May, according to a recent assessment, primarily driven by escalating terrorist violence in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan. This attack follows a series of violent incidents, including a joint security operation earlier on Wednesday where a policeman and four village defense committee members were martyred, and six TTP terrorists were killed. In a particularly devastating attack on July 6, 27 policemen were martyred in Balochistan's Ziarat district.

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Fifteen kharji were killed while multiple others were injured due to the police’s response.