Eleven police personnel were feared killed and 12 others injured on Wednesday, November 11, when militants ambushed a police team in Pakistan's Kohat district in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, a spokesman for the Rescue 1122 service told Reuters. Pakistan's Interior Ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment, Reuters reported.
Source: Reuters
The Associated Press, citing local police official Faisal Khan, reported that at least 10 officers, including two senior officials, were killed when the convoy was ambushed, and that an intense exchange of fire between security forces and the attackers was continuing after the ambush. Police later put the confirmed toll higher, at 11 killed, in statements reported by The Express Tribune.
Source: Associated Press via The Business Standard
Kohat police spokesperson Muhammad Nauman Zeb said the team was travelling in connection with an operation against illegal gold mining along the River Indus when it came under fire in the Darbokach and Jalandhar Banda area, between Kohat and Karak districts, in the Gambat area of Kohat. The dead include Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) Gambat Haider Zaman and Sub-Inspector Mukhtiar, Zeb said, according to The Express Tribune's reporting.
Source: The Express Tribune via The Daily Jagran
The attackers opened fire on the police personnel from hilltops, The Express Tribune reported, and five police vehicles were set on fire during the assault. Rescue 1122 said its statement put the number killed at 11, with 12 injured shifted to hospital, and an emergency was declared at the District Headquarters Teaching Hospital in Kohat.
Source: The Express Tribune via The Daily Jagran
Governor seeks report; pursuit under way
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Governor Faisal Karim Kundi condemned the attack, asked the police for a detailed report and directed that those involved be brought to justice, The Express Tribune reported. District police said the pursuit of the attackers was continuing and that the operation against illegal mining in the Gambat area, under way for several days, would go on.
Source: The Express Tribune via The Daily Jagran
No claim of responsibility; suspicion falls on the Pakistani Taliban
No group had claimed responsibility for the attack at the time of reporting. The Associated Press reported that suspicion falls on the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), the Pakistani Taliban, which has stepped up attacks on security forces in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, the province bordering Afghanistan. That suspicion has not been established by investigators, and no official link to Wednesday's ambush had been announced.
Source: Associated Press via The Business Standard
Background: Pakistan has repeatedly accused Afghanistan's Taliban government of allowing TTP fighters to operate from Afghan territory and use it as a base for attacks inside Pakistan; the Afghan authorities deny the allegation. The TTP is a separate organisation from the Afghan Taliban, though closely allied with it, and attacks on police in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa have risen in recent months.
Source: Associated Press via The Business Standard
What is solid
- A police team on an anti-illegal-gold-mining operation was ambushed in the Darbokach-Jalandhar Banda area of Kohat district on Wednesday, November 11 — police spokesperson Muhammad Nauman Zeb, via The Express Tribune; Reuters.
- Rescue 1122 put the toll at 11 killed and 12 injured — Reuters; The Express Tribune.
- No group had claimed responsibility at the time of reporting — Associated Press; Reuters.
What is only claimed
- The exact toll as reports developed: the Associated Press first reported at least 10 killed, including two senior officers, while Rescue 1122's later statement put the figure at 11 killed.
- Who carried out the ambush: suspicion reported by the Associated Press falls on the TTP, but no group had claimed the attack and investigators had not publicly established responsibility.
Watch for the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa governor's detailed police report, the outcome of the pursuit operation in the Gambat area, any claim of responsibility, and official identification of the remaining personnel killed.