Deadly attack on Pakistan checkpoint leaves 15 dead as militant violence surges

An attack late Wednesday on a checkpoint in northern Pakistan left at least seven police officers and eight alleged "terrorists" dead, local media reported, citing District Police Officer Tariq Habib. The attack occurred in the Hangu district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province. An additional 22 police personnel were injured in the attack, and a clearance operation was launched in the area. No group immediately claimed responsibility.

The incident comes just days after unidentified militants attacked another checkpoint in the Tank district of the same province. Khyber Pakhtunkhwa borders Afghanistan and has been gripped by a growing violent campaign by the Islamist Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) group. In Friday's attack, militants rammed an explosives-laden vehicle into a security check post, killing 15 people including soldiers, police and government personnel. Security forces killed 12 militants, according to the military.

Pakistan has previously blamed the increase in attacks in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and the southern border province of Balochistan on militancy emanating from Afghanistan, whose Taliban government denies Afghan involvement. The accusations have sparked a bitter rift and armed conflict between the neighbouring countries. Pakistan has carried out deadly airstrikes it says targets militants on Afghan soil. The Taliban government and the United Nations said dozens of civilians were killed in the latest Pakistani strikes on eastern Afghanistan in June.