Pakistani Militants Attack Police With Firearms, 6 Officers Killed

ILLUSTRATION/Pakistan police patrol car/PHOTO via Wikimedia Commons

Militants in northwest Pakistan launched eight attacks with firearms and grenades overnight targeting police, killing six officers.

The attack targeted police stations, checkpoints, and patrols in seven districts in the province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa bordering Afghanistan, police officer Mohammad Ali Babakhel said.

Reported by Reuters on Thursday, August 14, the militants used rocket-propelled grenade launchers in several attacks. Six policemen were killed and nine others injured.

The surge in attacks in recent months has been a tough challenge for police overwhelmed and deficient frontline equipment against militant attacks.

Tereek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), a Pakistani Islamist militant group linked to the Afghan Taliban, claimed responsibility for the attack.

TTP is part of several Sunni Islamic groups. The group has been at war against the country since 2007 in a bid to overthrow the government and replace it with their version of Islamic law.

Attacks have escalated since the TTP lifted a ceasefire with the Pakistani government by the end of 2022.

In 2024, Islamic militants launched 335 attacks across the country, killing 520 people, according to Pakistan's Institute for Peace Studies.

Pakistan says militants operate in neighboring Afghanistan, where it trains fighters and plans attacks, accusations Kabul denies.