UPDATE - Militant attack kills 10 policemen in Pakistan

UPDATES WITH OFFICIAL COMMENTS

By Aamir Latif

KARACHI, Pakistan (AA) - Three days ahead of general elections in Pakistan, militants attacked a police station in the northwestern part of the country early Monday, killing 10 policemen and injuring six more, an official said.

The incident, latest in an ongoing streak of militant attacks ahead of Feb. 8 polls, took place in the outskirts of the Dera Ismail Khan district of northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province.

The regional police chief, Nasir Mehmood, told reporters that a group of around 30 heavily-armed militants attacked the police station from three directions in the early hours of Monday, hurling hand grenades and targeting the police with sophisticated weapons.

The attackers briefly took over control of the police station before they fled after a counter-assault by the police, he added.

This was the second brazen attack this month, raising security concerns about the upcoming elections.

Armed militants attacked Mach and Kolpur complexes in southwestern Balochistan province, killing at least four army troops and two civilians. Some 30 suspected militants were also killed in a counter-operation in the region that lasted for three days.

Condemning the latest attack, interim Prime Minister Anwaar ul Haq Kakar hailed the police for “bravely” countering the militants.

“The cowardly acts of terrorists will, as always, fail to undermine our resolve to maintain law and order,” he said. “The entire nation stands with the police and security forces and salutes the martyrs,” he said.

Pakistan has seen an uptick in militant attacks since the Afghan Taliban returned to Kabul in August 2021.

Islamabad accuses the Afghan Taliban of sheltering the militants loyal to Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan, a consortium of different militant groups in Pakistan. Kabul has repeatedly denied the charge.

*Riyaz ul Khaliq in Istanbul contributed to this story