A Pakistani Frontier Police constable on guard (file photo). Islamist militants have reportedly killed Pakistani frontier police in an attack near Dera Ismail Khan. Photo: AFP/ Banaras Khan
At least 10 Pakistani frontier police have been killed in a militant attack on an outpost near the northwestern city of Dera Ismail Khan, police sources say.
Thursday's attack, claimed by Islamist militant group Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), comes as Pakistan battles a resurgence of militant attacks in its rugged northwest, as well as a growing ethnic separatist insurgency in the south.
Three senior police sources confirmed the attack, saying a large group of militants stormed the outpost, killing members of the frontier constabulary security force.
The sources spoke on condition of anonymity, as the matter is a sensitive one.
The attack was confirmed by Ali Amin Khan Gandapur, chief minister of the northwestern province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, in a statement on Friday that condemned it, but did not state the number of deaths.
In its statement claiming responsibility, the TTP group said the attack was retaliation for the killing of a senior leader, Ustad Qureshi.
Qureshi was one of nine people, including two suicide bombers, killed in an intelligence-based operation in the district of Bajaur bordering Afghanistan, Pakistan's military said in a statement on Thursday.
The TTP is separate from the Afghan Taliban movement, but pledges loyalty to the Islamist group, which now rules Afghanistan after US-led international forces withdrew in 2021.
Islamabad says the TTP uses Afghanistan as a base, and that the ruling Taliban administration has provided safe havens to the group close to the border. The Taliban deny this.
