At least seven police personnel were killed and 13 others injured when terrorists carried out a suicide attack on the Ratta Kulachi Police Training School in Dera Ismail Khan district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, police said on Saturday.
Officials said the assault began late Friday night when terrorists rammed an explosives-laden truck into the main gate of the training facility, causing a massive explosion. Soon after, armed attackers wearing various uniforms entered the compound and opened indiscriminate fire. Police teams swiftly retaliated, surrounding the militants as they hurled hand grenades.
Three terrorists were initially neutralised in the exchange of fire, while others remained holed up inside. A large-scale clearance operation was launched with the participation of SSG commandos, Al-Burq Force, Elite Force, and local police units.
The gun battle lasted nearly five hours, during which three more terrorists were killed and six additional police personnel lost their lives.
“All trainee recruits and staff members were safely evacuated to secure locations,” officials confirmed.
The operation was directly supervised on-site by DPO Dera Ismail Khan Sahibzada Sajjad Ahmed and RPO Syed Ashfaq Anwar.
After the prolonged engagement, security forces recovered suicide vests, explosives, modern weapons, and ammunition from the slain terrorists. The 13 injured police personnel were taken to nearby hospitals for medical treatment.
According to DPO Sahibzada Sajjad Ahmed, around 200 trainees, instructors, and staff members were present at the time of the attack and were safely moved to secure areas.
Inspector General of Police Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Zulfiqar Hameed, confirmed that the area had been completely cleared and that a search and clean-up operation was continuing to eliminate any residual threats.
The IGP lauded the leadership of the RPO and DPO for the successful operation, paid tribute to the martyred officers, and announced rewards for the personnel who took part in the mission.
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