Peshawar: At least 11 security personnel were killed and 18 terrorists were reported dead after a police team returning from an operation against illegal gold mining came under attack in Pakistan's Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province on Wednesday (November 11).
The attack took place in the Darabukach area of Kohat district, where police personnel and the local civil administration had conducted a joint operation against those involved in illegal gold mining, the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Police said.
According to a statement issued by the police public relations director, the team was attacked by Fitna-al-Khawarij while returning after completing the operation. The police alleged that the attack was carried out at the behest of criminal elements.
Police personnel retaliated, killing 18 attackers, whom the police statement referred to as khawarij. The statement initially reported that 10 police personnel had been killed.
Police spokesperson Muhammad Nauman Zeb said the team was travelling towards the Gumbat area of Kohat district when it came under fire in the Darbokach-Jalandhar Banda area, between Kohat and Karak. Those killed included DSP Gambat Haider Zaman and Sub-Inspector Mukhtiar.
Five police mobile vehicles were also set on fire during the attack, Zeb said, adding that the attackers continued firing, leading to a heavy exchange of gunfire.
Additional police vehicles were sent to the location, and a large contingent of personnel was deployed to respond to the attack. An emergency was also declared at the District Headquarters Teaching Hospital following the incident, he said.
Fitna-al-Khawarij is a term used by the Pakistani state to refer to terrorists belonging to the banned Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP).
The police statement also pointed to an alleged nexus between criminal elements involved in illegal gold mining and Fitna-al-Khawarij.
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Governor Faisal Karim Kundi expressed grief over the deaths of the police personnel and sought a detailed report on the incident, according to a statement issued by his office.
The attack comes amid continued security concerns in Pakistan's northwestern province. According to the Pakistan Institute for Conflict and Security Studies, the country's security situation remained volatile between October 30 and November 5, with renewed militant activity in parts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and the former tribal districts, alongside intensified counterterrorism operations and changing patterns of militant violence.
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa has been under governor's rule and a state of emergency since October 11. The federal government imposed the measures, accusing the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf-led provincial government of "deliberate disengagement" from counterterrorism efforts.
(with inputs from media organisations)