Militant attack on Pakistan police station kills at least 10

Deadliest assault in Dera Ismail Khan this year came days before national elections

Pakistani Army soldiers stand guard outside the hospital after police officers were injured when militants stormed a police station in Chodwan. EPA

At least 10 police officers were killed when militants attacked a police station in north-western Pakistan on Monday.

Six officers at the Chodwan police outpost, in Dera Ismail Khan, were injured, said local police officer Abdul Ghaffar.

The incident, in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province bordering Afghanistan, was the deadliest attack in Dera Ismail Khan this year and came days before national elections in the country.

The Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan appears to be behind the attack, Akhtar Hayat Khan, inspector general of police for Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, told The National.

“The area where the attack took place is infested with militants,” he said.

He said the militants used advanced weapons, including night-vision guns, making it easier for them to attack security personnel at night.

The police had only recently acquired night-vision technology to combat the militants.

Attackers scaled the walls of the police station at about 3am and occupied a bunker on the roof of the station, Mr Ghaffar said. Snipers then shot police officers who stepped out of a room or looked outside.

More officers were shot when militants entered some of the rooms at the station, Mr Ghaffar said.

Pakistan, particularly the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan provinces, have witnessed a sharp rise in violence in the run-up to the general elections scheduled for February 8.

Several blasts have rocked Balochistan province in recent days. The attacks have been claimed by the Baloch Liberation Army and ISIS.

The Pakistani Taliban, or TTP, also declared it would continue attacking security personnel but would spare political activists amid the election campaign.