Pakistan militant attack kills 10 frontier police, sources say

Pakistan: At least 10 Pakistani frontier police were killed in a militant attack on an outpost near the northwestern city of Dera Ismail Khan, police sources said.

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 Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (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 that now rules Afghanistan after U.S.-led international forces withdrew in 2021.

Islamabad says the TTP uses Afghanistan as a base and says the ruling Taliban administration has provided safe havens to the group close to the border. The Taliban deny this.