Photo: AP file
Ten police officers were killed at a checkpoint near the Afghan border, officials reported on Friday, in an attack claimed by the Pakistan Taliban. "The intense exchange of gunfire lasted for nearly an hour. Ten Frontier Constabulary personnel were martyred, and seven were wounded during the assault," a senior intelligence officer said on condition of anonymity.
Approximately 20 to 25 militants launched a heavy attack on a Frontier Constabulary post, a police support force, in the Dera Ismail Khan district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province. Pakistan has experienced a rise in militancy since the Afghan Taliban regained power in 2021, with the Pakistani faction of the movement primarily targeting security forces.
A senior official from the Frontier Constabulary also confirmed the details on the condition of anonymity. The attack occurred about 70 kilometers (approximately 43 miles) east of the Afghan border. In a separate incident on Thursday night, one policeman was killed in an attack near the Afghan border in the Khyber district.
Last month, a police convoy escorting foreign ambassadors was targeted in a roadside blast that resulted in the death of a policeman. The Pakistani Taliban, historically rooted in Afghanistan, shares the same ideology as the Afghan Taliban.
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