Four terrorists were killed when their attack on a police checkpost in Bannu district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa was beaten back by security forces on Saturday morning, police said.
According to police, the terrorists targeted the Kingar Pul checkpost but were forced to flee after an effective and swift joint response by the police. Soon after the attack was launched, fresh reinforcements from the Quick Response Force and the Counter Terrorism Department rushed to the site and helped the police thwart the attack.
In the ensuing gunbattle, four terrorists were killed and their bodies were taken into custody. Police said the process of identifying the dead was under way, and weapons and ammunition were seized from the scene.
Security forces later carried out a clearance operation in the surrounding areas to make sure no other attackers remained in the vicinity.
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Inspector General of Police Zulfikar Hameed commended the Bannu Police for their quick and immediate response to the attack. He said repelling the attack successfully was a testament to the high level of training and dedication of the personnel.
“There is no place for terrorists on the soil of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, we will ensure their elimination,” the inspector general said, according to the police statement.
Police described the attackers as members of Fitna al-Khawarij, the term the state uses for the banned Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan. Separately, security sources told The News that four terrorists were killed in an intelligence-based operation in Bannu district on Saturday and a large cache of weapons and ammunition was recovered, with clearance operations continuing in the area.
Checkposts in Bannu have been targeted repeatedly in recent months, and police say they remain on alert across the district.
According to police, the attackers opened fire on the post in the morning, and the personnel on duty returned fire while reinforcements were called in. The Quick Response Force and the Counter Terrorism Department teams reached the checkpost during the exchange and joined the police in pushing the attackers back.
Police said the bodies of the four dead attackers were taken into custody and that their identification was under way. Weapons and ammunition recovered from the scene were also taken into police custody, and the clearance operation in the area continued after the gunbattle ended.
