Terrorist attack on checkpoint kills 2 police officers in northwestern Pakistan

Two police officers were killed and three others injured when terrorists attacked a checkpoint in Pakistan's northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province early on Tuesday, officials said.

The attack occurred at the Gunangar police checkpoint in Chakesar tehsil of Shangla district, where assailants used hand grenades and heavy weapons including rocket launchers.

Assistant Sub-Inspector Mohammad Hassan and Head Constable Nisar Ahmad were killed in the attack. Three other officers, post clerk Arshad Iqbal, Constable Arshad Khan, and Constable Rafat, sustained injuries when the checkpoint's building collapsed due to the assault, burying one officer in the debris.

Local residents and police from the nearby Dandai station evacuated the injured to District Headquarters Hospital in Battagram for treatment.

The attack site is located in a remote area near the Karakoram highway and Indus river. Police have cordoned off the area and launched a search operation, with additional forces deployed.

Worsening situation in KP

The attack comes amid escalating violence in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, following two separate incidents on Monday where militants shot dead a police officer and injured another while they were guarding polio vaccinators.

According to interior ministry data, the region has witnessed 948 of the country's 1,566 terrorist incidents in the past 10 months, resulting in 583 deaths.

Violence has surged in Pakistan's northwestern regions since the Pakistani Taliban, known as Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), ended its ceasefire agreement with the government in 2022.