12 Police Officers Killed in Coordinated Militant Attack in Pakistan

At least 12 police officers were killed in a coordinated militant assault involving a car bombing, armed ambush, and reported drone strikes in northwestern Pakistan, authorities said on Sunday.

The attack occurred in Bannu district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, where militants reportedly rammed an explosives-laden vehicle into a police outpost before storming the facility and opening fire on security personnel.

According to Pakistani media reports citing police sources, the attackers destroyed the outpost during the assault, leaving vehicles burned and debris scattered across the area.

Three surviving officers were rescued from the scene and taken to hospital for treatment.

Security officials said militants later ambushed reinforcements dispatched to the area, while drones were also reportedly used during the coordinated attack, highlighting increasingly sophisticated tactics employed by armed groups operating along Pakistan’s northwestern border regions.

The militant alliance Ittehad-ul-Mujahideen claimed responsibility for the assault.

The group emerged in 2025 as a coalition of militant factions active in Pakistan’s northwest, including the Hafiz Gul Bahadur Group and Lashkar-e-Islam.

Pakistan has witnessed a resurgence of militant violence in recent years, particularly in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan, regions bordering Afghanistan.

According to security assessments cited by local media, the two provinces accounted for more than 90 per cent of militant incidents and fatalities recorded in 2025.

Authorities say militant groups have increasingly adopted complex tactics, including suicide bombings, improvised explosive devices, coordinated ambushes, and drone-assisted attacks targeting security forces.