Nine Police Martyred, 28 Hurt in Hangu Checkpost Terror Attack
PESHAWAR: Nine police officers, including a deputy superintendent of police, were martyred and 28 others wounded when militants attacked the Khazina Banda police checkpost in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Hangu district late Wednesday. The assault triggered a lengthy exchange of fire and prompted authorities to send additional personnel to the area.
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Inspector General of Police Zulfiqar Hameed said officers stationed at the checkpost immediately returned fire after coming under attack. Reinforcements were dispatched to support the personnel already engaged, but the responding contingent was also ambushed as it approached the location.
An armoured personnel carrier used by the police was damaged during the fighting, adding to the difficulties faced by the security teams. Despite the intensity of the assault and the damage to their vehicle, police units continued resisting the attackers while efforts were made to secure surrounding routes and prevent further movement by the armed group.
According to the provincial police chief, 15 militants were killed in the police response and several others were wounded. He said the fallen personnel included DSP Diyar Khan and praised the officers for confronting the attackers under exceptionally dangerous conditions. The police leadership maintained that its campaign against militant networks across the province would continue.
Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi condemned the attack and expressed condolences to the families of the martyred officers. He also prayed for the recovery of those injured and paid tribute to the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Police, which has remained on the frontline of counterterrorism operations in some of Pakistan’s most volatile districts.
A separate security incident was reported during the same night in Peshawar’s Adezai area, where militants opened fire on a police checkpost falling within the jurisdiction of Mattani Police Station. Officers at the post retaliated, forcing the attackers to withdraw. Authorities said no police casualties were recorded in that confrontation.
The Hangu attack came amid renewed concern over militant violence in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan. A recent security assessment noted that Pakistan’s security environment deteriorated sharply during May after two months of relative improvement, with attacks and counterterrorism operations again concentrating heavily in the two provinces.
Earlier on Wednesday, a policeman and four members of a village defence committee were martyred during a joint security operation in the mountainous areas of Swat’s Kabal and Matta tehsils. Six militants associated with the banned Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan were also killed during that operation, underlining the growing frequency of armed confrontations between law-enforcement personnel and militant groups.
The latest casualties are expected to intensify demands for stronger protection at exposed police installations, improved intelligence coordination and better emergency support for officers deployed in high-risk areas. Authorities are likely to continue clearance and search activities around Hangu while injured personnel receive treatment and investigators examine how the attackers approached the checkpost and ambushed reinforcements.