Militant attack kills 10 police in Pakistan's Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province

A heavily armed militant group launched a brazen attack on police in Kohat district, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, on Wednesday, leaving at least 10 officers dead and triggering intense firefights that extended into the afternoon. The assailants targeted police vehicles with automatic weapons fire, killing two senior officers among those slain, according to district officials and police statements.

Local authorities said gunbattles between security forces and the attackers were still active as response teams mobilized to contain the situation. The scale and coordination of the assault underscored the persistent security challenges faced by law enforcement in the northwestern province, which has long grappled with militant activity.

While no group had claimed responsibility for the attack by Wednesday evening, security analysts and officials pointed to Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) as the primary suspect. The TTP and affiliated groups have carried out numerous attacks on security installations across the region over the past decade, though such incidents have fluctuated in frequency.

The attack marks a significant escalation in violence and is likely to intensify pressure on provincial and federal authorities to bolster security operations. Residents and traders in Kohat expressed alarm over the brazen nature of the assault, which struck at the heart of law enforcement operations in the district.