Peshawar: A fierce attack on a police training centre in Pakistan’s restive northwestern province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa on Friday evening left at least seven police officers and six attackers dead. The gunfight lasted for several hours, with explosions being heard from a distance, it was reported.
This is the latest of several attacks launched on government forces by several armed groups operating in the area, even as Pakistan struggles with a worsening security situation.
Friday’s assault targeted a police training facility in Ratta Kulachi, on the outskirts of Dera Ismail Khan city. Police said the attackers used heavy weapons and tried to force their way into the compound after a suicide bomber detonated an explosives-laden truck at the gate.
“After the initial blast, the attackers managed to storm the facility, where about 200 recruits and their trainers were present,” Dera Ismail Khan police chief Sajjad Ahmad told The Associated Press.
Ahmad said that the gun battle between the police and militants lasted nearly six hours. Seven police personnel were killed and 13 were injured, he said. The attackers launched the coordinated assault using heavy weapons, according to a police statement.
The policemen on duty returned fire, thwarting what officials described as an attempt to cause mass casualties. The explosives-packed truck rammed into the training school’s main gate, triggering a blast that collapsed part of a boundary wall, killing a police officer.
Moments later, militants in uniform entered the compound and opened fire with automatic weapons, the statement said. They hurled grenades and exchanged heavy fire with security forces. Police and paramilitary units later cleared the compound, killing six militants and recovering suicide vests, explosives, weapons, and ammunition, the statement added.
Pakistani interior minister Mohsin Naqvi praised the slain officers for their bravery and sacrifice.
The banned outfit Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan, initially claimed responsibility for the assault, but denied it later. The group is allied with, but separate from, the Afghan Taliban, which seized power in Kabul in 2021.
The attack came hours after Pakistan Army’s chief spokesman, Ahmad Sharif Chaudhry had said on Friday that “terrorism had surged since 2021,” particularly in the northwestern province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa bordering Afghanistan.
Chaudhry told reporters at a press conference that Pakistan had carried out thousands of counterterrorism operations in recent years to neutralize the growing militant threat. Till September 15 this year, security forces conducted over 10,000 operations, killing 970 militants. According to records, 311 soldiers and 73 police officers were killed in these operations.
