At least 10 police officers were killed on Wednesday when militants ambushed vehicles carrying law enforcement personnel in northwestern Pakistan. The attack occurred in the Kohat district, located within the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province near the border with Afghanistan, according to local police official Faisal Khan.
Among those confirmed dead were two senior police officers. Following the initial ambush, a sustained gunbattle broke out between the security forces and the attackers, which officials indicated was still ongoing. No further details regarding the engagement were provided at the time of the report.
While no organization has immediately claimed responsibility for the ambush, authorities expect suspicion to center on the Pakistani Taliban, also known as Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP). The group has significantly increased its frequency of attacks against security forces in the region over recent months. Pakistan has experienced a general surge in violence in recent years, which is largely attributed to the TTP.
The TTP maintains close ties with the Afghan Taliban, who returned to power in neighboring Afghanistan in 2021, though the two groups remain distinct entities. The Pakistani government frequently alleges that the Taliban-led administration in Afghanistan provides shelter to TTP militants, an accusation that officials in Kabul continue to deny.
