By Staff Reporter
PESHAWAR: Police in north-west Pakistan killed four militants after repelling an armed attack on a checkpoint in Bannu district around midnight on Friday, officials said.
Heavily armed attackers struck the Kingar Pul checkpoint in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province without warning, according to a police spokesperson. Officers stationed there returned fire and drove them back.
The Rapid Response Force, the Quick Response Force and extra officers were sent from Bannu Police Lines and cordoned off the area. A clearance and search operation followed, and the bodies of four militants were recovered, the force said.
Police also seized four Kalashnikov rifles, several magazines, a large quantity of ammunition, hand grenades and bandoliers. Officers were still working to identify the dead.
Zulfiqar Hameed, the province’s Inspector General of Police, praised the Bannu force for foiling the attack, which he blamed on Fitna al-Khawarij. That is the term the Pakistani state uses for the banned Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP).
He said the attackers had tried to exploit the darkness but were beaten back by well-trained and alert officers, calling their response a matter of pride. He added that operations were under way as part of a comprehensive strategy to eradicate militancy from the province.
“Protecting the lives and property of the public remains the top priority of the police,” Mr Hameed said.
The attack came a day after the military announced a wave of operations against militants in the same region and in neighbouring Balochistan.
The Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), the army’s media wing, said on Friday that security forces had killed 74 militants in intelligence-based operations. It said 43 were killed in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa over 48 hours: 35 in Mir Ali, in North Waziristan, and eight in Orakzai. A further 31 were killed in Balochistan in operations that began on 3 November, it said.
The ISPR described the Balochistan dead as Indian-sponsored militants. Pakistan routinely makes that charge, and the claim could not be independently verified.
Security officials say violence in the border regions has been persistent. Two days earlier, militants attacked Bandkorai police station in Dera Ismail Khan, ramming an explosives-laden pickup truck into its main gate. The vehicle detonated, and heavy gunfire followed.
Police said return fire stopped the attackers entering the building and forced them to flee.
On the same day, two policemen, including an assistant sub-inspector, were killed in Swabi when three suspects opened fire on a patrol.
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