The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa police thwarted a late-night terrorist ambush on a police checkpost situated on the outskirts of Peshawar, an official said on Friday.

Superintendent Police (SP) Cantt Waqas Rafiq told Dawn.com that armed men tried to approach the Sarband police checkpost under the cover of darkness late at night on Thursday.

However, the quick response from the vigilant officers foiled their attempt.

The officers, whom he said were equipped with modern weapons, promptly retaliated, driving the terrorists away. “The police’s timely action foiled the terrorists’ plan,” the officer stated.

As per the KP police statement, a group of six to seven terrorists made an attempt to reach the checkpost.

Pakistan has seen an uptick in terror activities, especially in KP and Balochistan, after the outlawed Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) ended its ceasefire with the government in November last year.

On Wednesday night, two policemen were martyred while as many were injured in a late-night attack on a police check post in Peshawar’s Regi Model Town area.

A day later, three policemen embraced martyrdom and 12 people — nine personnel and three civilians — suffered injuries when terrorists attacked an official compound in Bara and a police post near Peshawar within a few hours.

Officials said two suicide bombers were intercepted by policemen at the entrance of the tehsil headquarters complex and police station adjacent to Bara bazaar around 11am on Thursday.

They said police engaged the bombers in a gun battle, which left one of the attackers dead, while the other blew himself up. A portion of the building collapsed owing to the impact of the explosion.

A report released earlier this month by think tank Pakistan Institute for Conflict and Security Studies said the first half of the current year witnessed a steady and alarming rise in terror and suicide attacks, claiming the lives of 389 people across the country.

More than a week ago, 12 soldiers of the Pakistan Army were martyred in two attacks on the military in the Zhob and Sui areas of Balochistan, the military’s highest single-day death toll from terrorist attacks reported this year.

Following the attacks, the military deplored the convenience and freedom with which militants have been launching attacks in Pakistan from Afghanistan and said it expected Afghan rulers to take action.

The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan has said it is deeply concerned by the “deteriorating law and order” in KP, with five police officers having been martyred in terrorist ambushes in the last three days alone.

“The human cost of terrorism must not be ignored: the police officers who died in the line of duty have left behind grieving families with questionable means of support,” the organisation highlighted in a statement on Twitter on Friday.

It stressed that if the state was to quell the rising tide of militancy in KP, it must not only provide law enforcement personnel with better intelligence, training and equipment but also “ensure that those who take on this immense risk are at least assured that their families would be looked after should the worst happen”.