3 police officers, including senior officer, killed in twin blasts across northwestern Pakistan

• Unidentified gunmen kidnap 13 construction workers in southwestern Balochistan, officials tell Anadolu
• 8 militants killed during operation in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, says military media wing

ISLAMABAD/ISTANBUL

At least three police officers, including a senior supervisory officer, were killed in twin blasts in northwestern Pakistan on Saturday, officials said.

According to local police, militants first blew up a check post in the Ghalamena area of Hangu district in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province. No casualties were reported in the initial explosion.

Later, as a police team led by Superintendent of Police Operations (SP) Asad Zubair arrived to inspect the site of the initial blast, a second explosion targeted his vehicle, a police official from the Hangu security control room told Anadolu over the phone.

The police official said that the Superintendent of Police Operations, along with two other policemen, were killed in the second blast, while one police officer who was injured in the explosion was moved to a local hospital.

Security forces have cordoned off the area and launched a search operation to track down those responsible for the coordinated attack.

Eight militants were killed during an “intelligence based” operation conducted after reports of militants in the Tank district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, according to a statement by the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), the media wing of the Pakistan Army.

Weapons and ammunition were also recovered from the militants, it said, adding that a “sanitization operation” is being conducted to "eliminate" any militant in the area.

“Pakistan will continue at full pace to wipe out the menace of foreign sponsored and supported terrorism from the country,” it stated.

Friday’s twin blasts mark another deadly assault on law enforcement in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, which has seen a resurgence of militant attacks in recent months targeting police and security installations.

In a separate incident, unidentified armed men attacked a construction company’s camp in the Khuzdar district of southwestern Balochistan province, abducting 13 workers and setting several vehicles on fire.

“Last night, unknown gunmen attacked the camp of a company working on a road project, torched several vehicles, and kidnapped 13 construction workers,” a local police official told Anadolu.

Last week, unidentified assailants also abducted nine laborers from a construction site in Balochistan’s Mastung district.