Militants attack police post in northwest Pakistan, killing 2 officers and wounding 3

PESHAWAR, Pakistan — Militants on a motorcycle opened fire Tuesday at a police post in restive northwest Pakistan, killing at least two officers and wounding three others before fleeing the scene, officials said.

No one immediately claimed responsibility for the attack in Shangla, a city in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, bordering Afghanistan. Local police officer Nasir Khan said the wounded officers were transported to a nearby hospital.

In a statement, Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi condemned the attack and offered his condolences to the families of the slain officers. He said “khwarij” — a term used for Pakistani Taliban — were behind the attack.

Naqvi gave no further details.

Pakistan in recent months has witnessed a surge in militant attacks, most blamed on separatists in the southwest Balochistan province and Pakistani Taliban, known as Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan or TTP. While the TTP is an ally of the Afghan Taliban who seized power in Afghanistan in 2021, it's a separate group.

In November, a suicide bomber killed 12 security personnel and wounded several others after detonating an explosive-laden vehicle at a security post in Bannu, a district in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province.