PESHAWAR: Ten policemen were killed while six others were injured on Monday when heavily armed militants attacked a police station in northwestern Pakistan, a police official confirmed, days before national elections are held in the country.
Pakistan has seen multiple attacks in its Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) provinces in recent weeks as it gears up for polls on Feb. 8.
Pakistan has seen a resurgence of attacks by militants, especially those targeting security personnel, since 2022, when a ceasefire between the Pakistani Taliban and the government broke down.
“Well-armed terrorists attacked Chodwan Police Station, a rundown locality on the outskirts of Dera Ismail Khan, from different directions,” Mukhtar Ahmed, a police officer at D.I. Khan’s district police office, told Arab News.
“The fight lasted for over an hour, which left 10 police personnel martyred and six others wounded.”
He said the assailants fled in the dead of night after carrying out the attack, which took place at 3:00 a.m.
At least 23 soldiers were killed in December 2023 when a six-man suicide squad drove an explosive-laden truck into a military camp, set up in a police station complex, in northwest Pakistan.
As pre-election violence gains hold of Pakistan’s western regions bordering Afghanistan, political parties and security analysts have voiced fears about the deteriorating security situation in the country.
Pakistan has suffered pre-election violence in the past, which includes targeted attacks on candidates and suicide blasts, before national polls in 2008 and 2013.
