Taliban attack in Pakistan kills dozens

Hundreds of heavily armed Taliban militants from Afghanistan have attacked a key police station in Pakistan’s troubled northwestern tribal belt, killing 23 police officers and five civilians.

“We have so far found 23 dead bodies of policemen, who had been killed in the attack that militants launched early Wednesday morning,” senior police official, Qazi Jamil ur-Rehman told AFP.

Five more civilians, including women and children were also killed when militants’ mortars hit nearby houses, the report added.

Dozens of other officers were wounded during the intense fighting.

More than 200 Taliban militants launched Wednesday’s attack from across the border in the Afghan province of Kunar and targeted the Shaltalu checkpoint in a remote part of Upper Dir district.

Pakistani police and militants were still exchanging fires on Thursday morning, according to the police.

The Pakistani military has dispatched several helicopter gunships to support the police force in the troubled region.

Also on April 22, more than 400 Taliban militants from Kunar overran a police checkpoint in Lower Dir, leaving at least 16 Pakistani security personnel killed.

The US invaded Afghanistan with the official objective of curbing militancy and bringing peace and stability to the region. However, after nine years the region remains unstable and militancy has expanded towards Pakistan.

Despite an offensive by the Pakistani government against pro-Taliban militants, they have spread their influence in various regions, killing people and security forces on an almost daily basis.

Nearly 4,500 people have lost their lives in bomb attacks across Pakistan since 2007.