Two cops lost their lives as a result of an attack on a police checkpoint in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Bannu district on Wednesday, officials said.

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Inspector General of Police Zulfiqar Hameed told Dawn.com, “Two policemen were martyred and one was injured in the attack.

“Terrorists launched the attack using hand grenades late at night, causing some damage to the checkpost,” he said, adding that the assailants were not able to cause significant destruction due to the prompt action of the police.

Some attackers fled after the attack, he said, adding that a search operation was underway.

Meanwhile, Regional Police Officer (RPO), Sajjad Khan, said in a statement that “several terrorists were killed and injured as the police retaliated against the attack.”

The attack occurred at the New Sabzi Mandi police checkpoint, in which advanced weaponry was used, he detailed.

“The timely response by the police prevented a potentially major loss,” it added.

Pakistan has witnessed an uptick in terror activities over the past year, especially in KP and Balochistan, after the proscribed Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) ended its ceasefire with the government in November 2022, vowing to target security forces, police, and law enforcement agencies personnel.

Earlier this month, a policeman was shot dead by unidentified assailants in the limits of the Mandan police station in Bannu.

Khanzala Quraishi, spokesperson for the Bannu regional police officer, told Dawn.com that Police Constable Khanzeb was on his way to duty on a motorcycle when he was intercepted and targeted by unidentified assailants near the Asghar fuel station in the limits of Mandan police station.

In another incident, suspected terrorists attacked Utla police station in Swabi, injuring three police officers. The local people and police officials said that after the terrorists opened fire injuring three personnel, the police force also retaliated with full force.