Pakistan: Police van ambush kills 7, including DSP, in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa's Kohat district

At least seven people, including six police personnel, were killed and several others injured in an attack on a police van in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Kohat district on Tuesday, Pakistani media reported citing officials.

Reports say the attackers opened fire on a police mobile on Shakardara Road, killing three officers on the spot, including Deputy Superintendent of Police Asad Mehmood.

Authorities said the toll rose to seven after three injured policemen and one civilian later succumbed to their injuries. Three police personnel and another civilian remain under treatment. The assailants set the police vehicle ablaze before fleeing the scene.

Pakistan’s interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi condemned the attack, attributed to Fitna al-Khawarij militants, and paid tribute to the fallen officers. He expressed condolences to the families and assured government support.

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The attack comes amid a surge in militant violence in regions bordering Afghanistan. On Monday, three paramilitary personnel were killed when an ambulance carrying injured officers came under attack in the Badrakhail area of Karak, said the Pakistan army.

Rise in recent attacks

A week earlier, at least 14 people were killed and 25 injured in two bomb blasts and a shooting incident in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

The latest violence follows a deadly bombing at a mosque in Islamabad that killed at least 31 people and injured 169. The attack was claimed by the Islamic State.

Over the past year, armed groups have intensified attacks in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, where the Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan has repeatedly targeted security forces, and in Balochistan, where the Baloch Liberation Army has staged multiple attacks, including its recent Operation Herof.

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The developments come amid heightened tensions along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border, with reports of airstrikes by the Pakistan Air Force targeting alleged militant positions in border regions in which many civilians lost their lives.