Trending 
At least 12 police officers were killed and five others injured after militants carried out a suicide car bombing on a checkpoint in northwestern Pakistan, officials said on Sunday.
The attack happened overnight in the Fateh Khel area of Bannu in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, where a suicide bomber reportedly drove an explosives-laden vehicle into a police checkpoint before armed assailants stormed the facility, according to Bannu police official Muhammad Sajjad Khan.
“Last night in the Fateh Khel area of Bannu, a suicide bomber rammed an explosives-laden vehicle into a police checkpoint, after which multiple militants entered the post,” Sajjad Khan told AFP.
He added that 12 officers had been confirmed dead, while another officer was still missing following the assault.
Officials said the attackers opened fire on security personnel after the blast and also deployed small drones during the operation. A senior administrative official disclosed that the militants used quadcopters alongside heavy weapons during the coordinated attack.
The official further stated that the assailants fled with weapons and some police personnel after overrunning the checkpoint.
“During the assault, the militants used quadcopters along with heavy weaponry,” a senior administrative official in Bannu told AFP on condition of anonymity.
“In addition, while retreating, the attackers took police personnel and weapons from the station with them,” he added.
Bannu and other parts of Pakistan’s border regions have witnessed rising militant violence in recent years, worsening tensions between Islamabad and neighbouring Afghanistan.
Pakistan has repeatedly accused the Taliban-led government in Kabul of allowing militants to operate from Afghan territory, an allegation Afghan authorities continue to deny.
Relations between the two countries have deteriorated in recent months, with cross-border clashes and Pakistani airstrikes inside Afghanistan further escalating tensions.
