Militants Attack Police Checkpost in Karak, Killing Three Officers

KARAK: In a deadly overnight assault, militants attacked a police checkpost in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s (KP) Karak district early Thursday, killing three police personnel and injuring six others, authorities confirmed.

The assailants, armed with heavy weaponry, opened fire on the checkpost located in the Bahadurkhel area. The slain officers have been identified as Taimur, Hayat, Naqeeb, and Adnan. Four of the injured personnel were rushed to the District Headquarters Hospital in Karak, with three later transferred to Peshawar in critical condition.

A funeral prayer for the fallen officers is scheduled to take place at 10 am at Karak Police Lines.

According to District Police Officer (DPO) Karak, the attackers fled the scene after police forces retaliated. Security forces swiftly responded by deploying a heavy contingent to the area, cordoning it off and launching a search operation to apprehend the culprits. Security measures across the district have since been intensified.

The attack comes days after a police officer was shot dead by extremists in Khyber district during an anti-polio campaign. On February 3, an inoculation team was ambushed in the Bakarabad area on the first day of the vaccination drive, underscoring the persistent threat posed by militant groups in the region.

Amid escalating security threats, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif last month emphasized the urgency of eliminating the “Fitna al-Khawarij,” referring to the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), which has carried out numerous attacks on security forces and civilians.