Pakistan: Six policemen killed in separate attacks by militants

Peshawar: At least six policemen, including an officer, have been killed and another injured in two separate attacks in Pakistan. Four policemen were killed when their vehicle was attacked by unidentified militants in Pakistan’s restive northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province on Saturday.

The policemen were returning from an operation in Kamal Khel area of Kohat district when militants ambushed their vehicle, police said.

A Station House Officer (SHO) and an additional SHO along with two constables died in the firing, police said, adding that the firing was sudden which suggests that it was a planned attack.

Jamaat-ul-Ahrar, a breakaway faction of the Pakistani Taliban, has claimed responsibility for the attack. In a separate attack, a pair of motorcycle-borne gunmen opened fire on a police van in an upscale neighbourhood in the  southern port city of Karachi, killing two policemen and wounding another.

The policemen were sitting in their stationary police van near Daud More when they were fired upon, Dawn quoted Gulshan Superintendent of Police Ghulam Murtaza Bhutto as saying.

Two policemen, an ASI and a head constable, were killed, it said, adding that an injured head constable was admitted to a hospital.

Lashkar-e-Jhangvi, an extremist militant group considered close to the dreaded Islamic State outfit, has claimed responsibility for the attack.