Author: Aamir Latif
Date: 10 May 2026
Last updated: 10 May 2026
At least 15 policemen were killed Saturday night in an attack involving a gunfight and a bomb blast in northwest Pakistan, one of the deadliest in recent months, local media reported Sunday.
The attack took place in the Bannu district in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, bordering Afghanistan, when a suspected suicide bomber rammed a police checkpoint with a rigged vehicle, according to Dawn News.
The suicide attack was followed by explosions and heavy gunfire by heavily armed assailants, the same source stated.
The local police chief, Sajjad Khan, mentioned that three other policemen were injured in the attack.
After the blast, the assailants opened fire from multiple directions, with several explosions heard in the area, causing panic among residents.
Security forces launched a counter-attack, but an immediate assessment of the assailants’ losses was not available.
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif condemned the attack and instructed security forces to take all necessary actions to bring the perpetrators to justice, according to a statement from his office.
The Bannu district, near the unstable tribal region of North Waziristan, is often a center of violence targeting civilians and security forces.
Pakistan has seen a rise in attacks by armed groups in recent years, largely attributed to the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan, which Islamabad accuses of operating from Afghanistan, a claim rejected by Kabul.
*Translated from English by Ben Amed Azize Zougmore
