Islamabad, Dec 23: Five Pakistani police personnel were killed on December 23 when their van was hit by an improvised explosive device and then fired upon by unidentified attackers in Karak district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, police said, amid a renewed surge in militant violence.
The attack killed four officers and the driver. No group has claimed responsibility, and investigations are under way. The incident has raised concern as Karak has largely avoided major militant attacks in recent years.
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif condemned the attack, saying police have “always played a frontline role in the war against terrorism.”
The assault comes as Pakistan faces rising violence in its northwest and strained ties with Afghanistan, which Islamabad accuses of allowing militants to operate from its soil—an allegation Kabul denies. Militants linked to the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) have fought the state for nearly two decades.
Elsewhere, the Baloch Liberation Army (BLA) claimed three attacks in Balochistan, alleging six soldiers were killed. The Balochistan Liberation Front (BLF) said it carried out multiple attacks, including an IED strike in Nushki and the downing of a drone in Tump. In Sindh, the Baloch Republican Guards (BRG) claimed a grenade attack on a police station in Hyderabad. Authorities have not independently confirmed the militant claims.
