Ten police officers and 18 fighters were killed in northwestern Pakistan after gunmen attacked police returning from an operation against illegal gold mining, according to provincial police. Another 12 police personnel were wounded in the violence on Wednesday in Kohat district, in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province.
In a statement, police said the officers had been returning from a mine in the district’s Gumbat area when armed men fired on them. The Pakistani Taliban claimed responsibility in a statement issued hours later. The assault comes amid an increase in the group’s attacks on security forces in the region in recent months.
A senior administrative official in Kohat earlier told the AFP news agency that the attackers had burned two police vehicles during the assault. The official also said that two additional police vehicles and a private vehicle were missing.
Separately, a senior administrative official in the Orakzai area of Kohat reported that an operation elsewhere in the district had killed 10 fighters from the Pakistani Taliban. A large quantity of weapons was recovered from those fighters, the official said. Those deaths were reported in connection with a separate operation from the attack on the returning officers.
An emergency service spokesman had also reported gunfire involving police in Kohat earlier on Wednesday. The spokesman said rescue workers were treating 12 wounded officers, matching the number of injured police personnel subsequently given in the provincial police statement.
Security forces are confronting intensifying violence in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, a province bordering Afghanistan. Pakistani authorities say the violence originates across the border, an accusation rejected by the Taliban government in Kabul. Pakistan has experienced a broader rise in violence in recent years, with much of it attributed to the Pakistani Taliban.
The group, formerly known as Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan, or TTP, is separate from the Afghan Taliban but remains closely allied with it. Relations between Pakistan and Afghanistan have been strained since the Afghan Taliban returned to power in 2021. Islamabad repeatedly accuses Kabul of providing shelter to TTP fighters, while Afghan authorities deny that allegation.
Tensions deteriorated further following deadly border clashes in October 2025, which resulted in an almost complete closure of the border. Figures from the United Nations mission in Afghanistan indicate that fighting between the two countries has killed hundreds of civilians over the past year.
