Five police officers were killed on Tuesday when gunmen opened fire on a police vehicle in Pakistan’s northwest Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, officials said.
The attackers set the vehicle ablaze after shooting at it in Karak district, police said. The officers were on duty when the ambush took place.
Police identified the slain officers as Shahid Iqbal, Safdar, Arif, Samiullah and Muhammad Abrar.
The attack occurred near Aman Kot in the Garagri Banda area. The mountainous region lies along the boundary between Karak, Kohat and Lakki Marwat districts and is considered highly sensitive because of oil and gas reserves.
After the attack, police sealed off the area and launched a search operation. Investigators collected evidence from the scene and opened a formal inquiry.
“We are investigating the incident from all angles and efforts are underway to trace the attackers,” said Saud, the district police officer in Karak.
Oil and gas from Garagri Banda are supplied to several southern districts of the province, including Bannu, Dera Ismail Khan and Lakki Marwat, as well as Bhakkar. MOL Pakistan operates extraction in the area, with security provided by the Pakistan Army and other law enforcement agencies.
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The region has a history of militant violence. In the past, armed groups have attacked oil and gas installations, and workers at some sites have been kidnapped.
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif strongly condemned the attack and expressed grief over the deaths.
“The police have always played a frontline role in the fight against terrorism,” Sharif said. “The entire nation salutes the martyrs.”
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Sohail Afridi also condemned the ambush.
“The sacrifices of the police personnel will not go in vain. The provincial government stands with the police,” Afridi said.
The killings are the latest in a string of attacks targeting police in the province.
Last week, a police officer and his brother were shot dead in Lakki Marwat. Earlier this month, one officer was killed and five others wounded in a suicide bombing that hit a police vehicle in the same district.
In November, three police officers were killed while responding to a militant attack on a checkpoint in Hangu district.
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