5 officers and 5 militants die after assaults on police workplace and a couple of military posts in northwest Pakistan

PESHAWAR, Pakistan — Militants attacked a regional police headquarters and two army posts in northwest Pakistan early Friday, triggering firefights that killed 5 safety personnel and 5 insurgents, police and the army mentioned.

The assaults got here three days after a suicide bomber in the identical area rammed his automotive right into a police station’s major gate and 5 others opened fireplace, killing 23 officers on this yr’s worst assault on Pakistani safety forces.

The army and native police chief Iftikhar Shah mentioned three cops have been “martyred” and three others have been wounded in an assault on the police headquarters within the city of Tank in Dera Ismail Khan, whereas a complete of 5 attackers died within the ensuing shootouts.

Hours later, Pakistani Taliban additionally attacked a army publish within the northwestern Khyber area bordering Afghanistan, killing two troopers and wounding 5 others, native police official Salim Khan mentioned.

No one instantly claimed accountability for Friday’s assaults, however suspicion was prone to fall on the Pakistani Taliban, referred to as Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan, or TTP.

The group is separate from Afghanistan’s Taliban although it’s allied with the Afghan motion, which seized energy within the neighboring nation in August 2021 as United States and NATO troops have been within the last phases of withdrawing after 20 years of battle.

The automotive bombing Tuesday was claimed by the newly shaped militant Tehreek-e-Jihad Pakistani group, which is believed to be an offshoot of the TTP.

Pakistan has witnessed a surge in assaults since 2022, when TTP ended a cease-fire.

The deadliest was in January when a suicide bomber disguised as a policeman attacked a mosque within the northwestern metropolis of Peshawar, killing 101 individuals, principally cops.

The growing militant violence has additional strained relations between Pakistan and Afghanistan’s Taliban-led administration. Pakistan typically accuses the Taliban of internet hosting TTP leaders on Afghan territory, from the place they launch their assaults.

Pakistan summoned a Taliban-appointed consultant from Kabul to protest Tuesday’s bombing. Taliban authorities spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid condemned the assault and promised to research.