Attack on northwest Pakistan police post kills 11 officers

An hours-long attack on a police checkpoint in Pakistan's northwestern Hangu district has killed at least 11 police officers and wounded dozens more, local authorities said. The assault took place late on Wednesday near the Afghan border in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province. Security forces later killed 15 attackers during the gun battle, according to local police.

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Police said the attackers first used explosive-laden quadcopters to strike the post before launching an ambush. Among those killed was Deputy Superintendent Diyar Khan, who had led reinforcements to the scene, local police said. District police officer Mujahid Hussain said the attackers also set three police vehicles on fire and took another police vehicle away.

At least 28 injured officers were hospitalised after the raid, adding to the scale of the losses for the local force. No group has claimed responsibility for the attack so far. The incident came days after a deadly suicide bombing targeting Pakistani soldiers in the nearby district of Tank, an attack claimed by the Pakistan Taliban, also known as TTP.

The attack underlines the continuing pressure on Pakistan's security forces in border areas close to Afghanistan. Violence in these districts has risen sharply in recent months, with police and military personnel increasingly targeted. The surge in attacks follows an armed conflict between Pakistan and Afghanistan earlier this year that killed hundreds, according to the supplied report.

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The Pakistan Taliban has been fighting the Pakistani state since 2007 in an effort to overthrow the government and impose its own system of rule. Islamabad has accused fighters of using safe havens in Afghanistan to train and plan attacks inside Pakistan, a claim denied by Afghanistan's Taliban government. The latest assault also comes against the backdrop of the worst fighting between the two neighbours in years in February, when Pakistan carried out air strikes inside Afghanistan.

What remains unclear is who carried out the Hangu raid and whether it was directly linked to the earlier Tank bombing. Authorities have not yet given a full account of the attackers' identities or how they were able to sustain the assault for hours. The main questions now are whether the incident will prompt a wider security response along the border and whether it will further strain already tense relations between Pakistan and Afghanistan.

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