A group of armed terrorists attacked a police station in Dera Ismail Khan (DI Khan) district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province early on Monday morning, killing nine police officers and injuring five others, according to police sources.
The assailants, who were reportedly armed with hand grenades, used snipers to target the police personnel deployed at the Chaudhwan police station in Tehsil Daraban. They then entered the building and threw grenades, causing extensive damage to the structure. They also opened fire on the cops, who retaliated and engaged them in a gunfight.
The exchange of fire lasted for about an hour, until the security forces arrived and neutralized the attackers. The injured cops were shifted to the district headquarters hospital for treatment. The police station was cordoned off and a search operation was launched to nab any possible accomplices of the terrorists.
No group has claimed responsibility for the attack so far, but police suspect it was carried out by the banned Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), which has been involved in several similar attacks in the past. The TTP has been waging a violent insurgency against the Pakistani state since 2007, and has targeted security forces, civilians, and religious minorities in various parts of the country.
The attack on the police station in DI Khan is the latest in a series of terrorist incidents that have rocked the province in recent days. On Friday, a roadside bomb blast killed two soldiers and wounded three others in North Waziristan district. On Saturday, a suicide bomber blew himself up near a security check post in Bannu district, killing one soldier and injuring four others.
