A police post in Hangu district, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, came under attack overnight, resulting in significant casualties on both sides. Security forces engaged in an hourlong firefight with militants who targeted the Khazina police post, ultimately killing 15 attackers while suffering 11 officer deaths, according to police official Irfan Khan and government statements.
Among the police fatalities was Diyar Khan, a senior officer who led reinforcements responding to the initial assault. The attack left more than two dozen additional police personnel wounded. According to official statements, the militants were equipped with heavy weapons and successfully ambushed reinforcement units that were dispatched to the scene, damaging an armored personnel carrier during the engagement before officers mounted a counteroffensive.
No militant organization immediately claimed responsibility for the attack. However, analysts expect the Pakistani Taliban, formally known as Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan or TTP, to be implicated, given the group’s recent pattern of escalated operations against Pakistani security forces across the region. The TTP maintains close ties with the Afghan Taliban, which regained control of Afghanistan in 2021.
The incident reflects broader security concerns in Pakistan, where militant violence has intensified in recent years. Pakistani officials have repeatedly blamed the surge in attacks on the TTP and have accused Afghanistan’s Taliban government of harboring the militant group. Afghanistan’s leadership has consistently denied providing sanctuary to Pakistani Taliban fighters.
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