At least seven policemen including a Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) were killed in an armed attack on a police checkpoint in Pakistan’s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province. Twenty-two other officers sustained injuries in the assault.
The attack targeted the Khazina Banda police checkpoint in Hangu district on Wednesday. District Police Officer Tariq Habib confirmed the casualties, identifying DSP Mujahid Hussain among the deceased.
Security forces immediately returned fire. According to police, at least eight attackers were killed and six others were wounded during the exchange. Clearance operations against the militants remain underway in the area.
Terrorist violence has surged in Pakistan's Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan provinces since the Afghan Taliban seized power in neighboring Afghanistan in 2021. Islamabad has repeatedly urged Kabul to crack down on border-based militant networks. Citing a lack of effective action from the Afghan administration, Pakistan launched a renewed counter-terrorism campaign earlier this year to curb cross-border militant strikes.
