At least 10 police officers were killed Wednesday when militants ambushed vehicles carrying security personnel in northwestern Pakistan, sparking a deadly gunbattle, officials said.
The attack took place in Kohat, a district in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, which borders Afghanistan, local police official Faisal Khan said.
He said two senior police officers were among the dead and an exchange of fire between security forces and the attackers was ongoing. He provided no further details.
Hours later, the Pakistani Taliban in a statement claimed the attack. The Pakistani Taliban, who were formerly known as Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan, or TTP, have stepped up attacks on security forces in the region in recent months.
Pakistan has seen a surge in violence in recent years, much of it blamed on the TTP. The group is separate from but closely allied with the Afghan Taliban, who returned to power in neighboring Afghanistan in 2021.
Pakistan frequently accuses Afghanistan’s Taliban government of sheltering TTP militants, an allegation Kabul denies.
