The KP police said terrorists opened fire on the checkpost in Takhta Beg and used personnel-borne explosives in the attack, after which the police station erupted in flames. The exchange of fire between police forces and terrorists continued into the night.
Immediately after the attack, traffic on the Pak-Afghan Highway was shut down, and a heavy reinforcements of police contingents was deployed to the check-post.
Talking to journalists, Jamrud SHO Shah Khalid termed the incident a suicide bombing attack on the police checkpost. "The suicide bomber entered the checkpost and blew himself up." The SHO maintained that the police officials had engaged the suicide bomber upon seeing him.
Two policemen — Manzoor Shah and Younis Khan — were martyred in the attack, while a cook in the checkpost, identified as Rafiq, was shifted to the Peshawar hospital where he succumbed to his injuries.
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The incident comes as Pakistan is dealing with a rise in terror attacks — particularly by the proscribed Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) — from across the Afghan border.
The TTP has regrouped in Afghanistan after the Taliban's takeover in 2021. Pakistan has repeatedly asked the Taliban's "interim" government in Afghanistan to ensure that their soil isn't used for terrorism. But the Taliban government has not been able to live up to expectations or obligations.
Terrorist activities have been mainly focused in Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, with the former accounting for 31% of the attacks during the last year and the latter 67%, according to statistics provided by Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah.
Just last week, three police personnel, including an officer, also embraced martyrdom during an exchange of gunfire with terrorists assaulted a police station in Peshawar. Terrorists attacked the Sarband Police Station located in the city's suburban area in the dark of night, leaving Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) Badaber Sardar Hussain and his two guards martyred.
Pakistan earlier called upon Iranian authorities to investigate the cross-border terror attack in Panjgur district of Balochistan, and bring the perpetrators to account.