Pakistan: Three Police Killed in Terrorist Attack on Checkpoint in Northwest

Three police officers were killed and two others wounded in a terrorist attack on a checkpoint at the entrance of the city of Hangu, in the northwestern province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistani local media reported Thursday.

The attack took place late Wednesday night at the Qazi Talab checkpoint, according to the provincial Counter-Terrorism Department (CTD).

Authorities launched an operation to capture the assailants, the Pakistani TV channel Samaa reported.

In the official CTD statement, police said the terrorists opened heavy fire on the checkpoint and that the ensuing clash lasted roughly two hours. “The terrorists took advantage of the darkness of the night and the rocky mountainous terrain and fled, taking their dead and wounded with them,” the statement read.