Militants in Pakistan kill nine in separate police attacks as tensions rise

By Saud Mehsud and Mushtaq Ali

Militants ambushed a police vehicle and a suicide bomber struck a checkpoint in separate attacks in Pakistan on Tuesday, police said, as the country grapples with escalating militant violence and renewed tensions with Afghanistan.

In Kohat city in northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, militants attacked a police patrol, killing five officers and setting their vehicle ablaze, a police spokesperson said. Two civilians later died of their injuries.

In a separate incident in Bhakkar district in Punjab province, a suicide bomber targeted the inter-provincial Dajal check post.

District police chief for Bhakkar Shahzad Rafique said two police officials died while five people, including two polio workers, were injured.

The Pakistani Taliban, also known as Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan, claimed responsibility for both attacks.

Punjab police chief Abdul Karim said officers stood "like a wall of steel" against what he described as "Fitna al-Khawarij", a term the state uses for militants.

Pakistan carried out air strikes in Afghanistan on Saturday on what it said were militant targets responsible for a spate of recent suicide bombings on Pakistani soil.

Islamabad has said militant groups have been provided sanctuary in Afghanistan, from where they plan and execute attacks across the border.

Afghanistan denies the charge, saying the militancy is Pakistan's internal problem.

Kabul and the United Nations have said the strikes killed at least 13 civilians.

"Pakistan’s attack was an act of terror that targeted civilians on Afghan soil and violated Afghanistan's sovereignty," Taliban government spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid said on Tuesday.

The districts bordering Afghanistan have long been home to a variety of Islamist militant groups, including Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan, who have fought against the state since 2007.