Pakistani security forces killed five suspected militants in a retaliatory operation after attackers targeted a police training centre in the northwestern province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa on Friday, officials said.
The intense clearance operation lasted five hours, during which at least three police officers were killed and six others injured, according to a statement from the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa police.
Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi later told reporters that the death toll among police personnel had risen to seven, as some of the injured succumbed to their wounds.
The attack occurred in the Dera Ismail Khan district, where terrorists rammed an explosive-laden vehicle into the main entrance of the police training centre before attempting to storm the facility, a police official told Anadolu Agency.
Security forces responded swiftly, engaging the assailants in a gun battle and eventually killing all five militants. Authorities said weapons, explosives, and suicide jackets were recovered from the site.
No group has immediately claimed responsibility for the assault, which is among the deadliest on Pakistan’s security forces in recent months.
