Rebels flattened Pakistani police station, 15 officers died

The suicide bomber on the evening of May 9 drove a car filled with explosives into the checkpoint outside the police station in the Fateh Khel area of ​​Bannu city and detonated it, police official Muhammad Sajjad Khan said on May 10.

Nearly 100 gunmen rushed into the attack station immediately after the car bomb exploded. “They used both drones and heavy weapons,” said a senior administrative official at Bannu.

Some police were killed in fierce gun battles with rebels, others died when buildings collapsed. Nearby law enforcement forces were sent to the rescue, but were ambushed by rebels and also suffered casualties, a police official said on condition of anonymity.

Mr. Khan confirmed that a total of 15 police officers were killed. “While retreating, the attackers also captured police officers and stole weapons from the station,” he added.

Ambulances from rescue units and hospitals were quickly dispatched to the scene, while officials declared a state of emergency at medical facilities in Bannu city.

Images after the attack showed that the police station was reduced to rubble, with bricks, rocks, and charred and deformed car bodies scattered across the scene.

The armed group Ittehad-ul-Mujahideen, an affiliate of the Pakistani Taliban, claimed responsibility.

This is the latest attack in the border province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in a wave of violence that is straining relations between Pakistan and Afghanistan.

Rebel attacks threaten to spark conflict along the border between Pakistan and Afghanistan. The worst confrontation in years broke out between the two countries in February after Pakistan launched air strikes inside Afghanistan, allegedly targeting rebel bases.

The conflict has eased with a few sporadic clashes along the border, but no ceasefire agreement has been signed.

Islamabad accuses Kabul of harboring rebel groups that use Afghan territory to plan attacks on Pakistan. The Taliban deny the accusations and say the violence in Pakistan is an internal matter of this country.