Ten police officers were killed and 12 wounded on Wednesday when militants ambushed a police convoy in Kohat district in northwestern Pakistan, officials said, in one of the deadliest attacks on the province’s police force in recent months. Police said 18 attackers were killed in the gunbattle that followed, and the Pakistani Taliban later claimed responsibility.
FAKTA
- Ten police officers were killed, including Deputy Superintendent of Police Haider Zaman and Sub-Inspector Mukhtiar, and 12 officers were wounded.
- The ambush took place on Wednesday, 11 November 2026, in the Darbukach area of Gumbat tehsil, Kohat district, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
- The police party was returning from an operation against illegal gold mining when gunmen opened fire from surrounding hills.
- Police said 18 attackers were killed in the hours-long exchange of fire that followed.
- The Pakistani Taliban, also known as the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), claimed responsibility for the attack hours later.
Kohat police ambush: what happened
The police team had been conducting an operation against illegal gold mining in the Gumbat area, in the Darbukach Jalandhar Banda area between the Kohat and Karak districts, when it came under heavy fire as it returned, Kohat police spokesperson Muhammad Nauman Zeb said. The attackers opened fire from surrounding hilltops, trapping the police party in an ambush, and the exchange of fire continued for hours.
Among the officers killed were Gambat Deputy Superintendent of Police Haider Zaman and Sub-Inspector Mukhtiar. Twelve police personnel were wounded and taken to hospital. A senior administrative official in Kohat told Agence France-Presse that the attackers set two police vehicles on fire during the confrontation, and that two other police vehicles and a privately owned vehicle were missing afterwards.
TTP claims responsibility
Hours after the attack, the Pakistani Taliban said in a statement that it was behind the assault. The TTP, which is separate from the Taliban movement ruling Afghanistan, has stepped up attacks on Pakistani security forces in recent months.
In a statement, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa police said the attackers had acted in collusion with criminal elements involved in illegal gold mining, and that the attack showed links between criminal networks and the Pakistani Taliban. The police also said the two had joined hands at the behest of foreign powers, without offering evidence to support that claim. Police vowed to take action against those facilitating the militants and criminal networks, saying no illegal activity would be tolerated.
A separate operation in Orakzai
Separately, a senior administrative official said 10 Pakistani Taliban fighters were killed in an operation in the Orakzai area of Kohat, and security forces recovered a substantial quantity of weapons. The authorities did not immediately clarify whether the militants killed in that operation were involved in the earlier attack on the police convoy.
Condemnation and tributes
Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi condemned the attack and paid tribute to the officers who were killed in the line of duty. Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Thursday expressed grief over the deaths of the 10 police personnel, including Deputy Superintendent of Police Haider Zaman, and extended condolences to their families, paying tribute to their sacrifices in the fight against terrorism.
Wider pattern of attacks
The ambush comes amid a sharp rise in militant violence in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, a province bordering Afghanistan that has seen repeated attacks on police and security forces. Police data cited by the Associated Press of Pakistan recorded 680 attacks in the province from January to September 2026, compared with 508 during the same period in 2025, and the number of police personnel killed has also risen sharply.
Pakistan frequently accuses Afghanistan’s Taliban government of sheltering TTP militants, an allegation Kabul denies. The increasing violence has further strained ties between Pakistan and Afghanistan’s Taliban government. More coverage of Pakistan is available on Watan News’ Pakistan news page.
