KABUL, AFGHANISTAN – At least seven people, including six Pakistani police officers, were killed and several others injured in an attack on a police patrol vehicle in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province near the Afghanistan border, Pakistani media reported.
According to Geo News, the incident occurred on Tuesday, February 24, in the Kohat district. Two civilians who were near the vehicle were also wounded in the attack. Three police officers died at the scene, while three police personnel and one civilian succumbed to their injuries after being taken to a hospital.
No group has claimed responsibility for the attack. However, the Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) has a history of carrying out similar assaults in the region.
Pakistani Interior Minister Mohsen Naqvi condemned the attack, attributing it to the “Fitna of Kharijites,” a term used by authorities to describe the TTP, which Islamabad says is operating from Afghanistan.
Militant violence has surged in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan provinces since the Taliban regained control of Afghanistan in 2021, with the TTP and other groups frequently targeting security forces and installations.
Islamabad accuses the Afghan Taliban of allowing TTP militants to operate from Afghan territory to launch cross-border attacks, allegations denied by the Taliban, who urge Pakistan to address its security issues domestically.
In response to recent attacks, Pakistan conducted “intelligence-based” airstrikes in eastern Afghanistan, including Nangarhar, Paktika, and Khost. Islamabad claimed the strikes killed dozens of TTP militants. The United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) confirmed that at least 13 civilians, including women and children, were killed and seven others injured during the airstrikes in Nangarhar province.
