PESHAWAR, Pakistan (AP) — Three law enforcement officers died Saturday night when militants launched a coordinated assault on a police facility in Pakistan’s northwestern region, authorities confirmed.
The deadly incident occurred in Bannu district within Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, which shares a border with Afghanistan, according to police official Zahid Khan. Attackers used a vehicle packed with explosives while armed fighters engaged officers in combat.
Khan reported that numerous blasts echoed through the area following the initial explosion, which destroyed both the police facility and several residential buildings in the vicinity due to the powerful detonation.
The police official declined to provide additional information, noting that gunfire continued between security forces and the attackers. He added that some officers sustained injuries and may be buried beneath debris from the collapsed structures.
Authorities have not identified which organization orchestrated the assault.
Intelligence experts anticipate the Pakistani Taliban, formally called Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan or TTP, along with associated extremist organizations, will likely emerge as suspects given their history of conducting comparable operations. The nation has experienced an escalation in extremist attacks over recent years.
The TTP operates independently from but maintains ties with Afghanistan’s Taliban movement, which assumed control of the neighboring country in 2021.
