Fourteen Pakistani Policemen Killed in Car Bombing, Shootout

AP

A worker clear rubble with an excavator as a police officer and local residents gather at the site of the bombing in Bannu.

At least 14 police officers were killed in northwestern Pakistan after a car bomb targeted a police post, followed by an ambush on security personnel responding to the scene, police said on Sunday.

Images from the aftermath of Saturday’s attack showed the police post reduced to rubble, with bricks, burnt wreckage and damaged vehicles scattered across the area.

Police official Sajjad Khan said in a statement that the bodies of 14 officers had been recovered from the collapsed outpost, while three other personnel were found alive and transferred to hospital for treatment.

A police official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said militants first drove an explosives-laden vehicle into the police post before storming the premises and opening fire on surviving officers.

"Other law enforcement personnel were sent to help the police, but the terrorists ambushed them and caused some casualties," he said.

Police sources stated that militants also used drones during the assault.

Ambulances from rescue agencies and civilian hospitals were deployed to the scene, while officials confirmed that a state of emergency had been declared in government hospitals in Bannu.

A militant alliance known as Ittehad-ul-Mujahideen claimed responsibility for the attack.

The assault has raised concerns over renewed instability along Pakistan’s border with Afghanistan. The most intense clashes in years erupted in February, when Pakistan carried out airstrikes inside Afghanistan, which Islamabad said targeted militant strongholds.

Although tensions have since eased, occasional clashes continue along the border, and no formal ceasefire agreement has been reached.

Islamabad has repeatedly accused Kabul of harbouring militants who use Afghan territory to plan attacks inside Pakistan. The Taliban administration has denied the allegations, insisting that militancy in Pakistan is an internal matter.

Source: Reuters



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