KOHAT: Two policemen were injured seriously in an attack on a police checkpost in the mountainous Sumari Bala area of Hangu district on Monday night.

The checkpost, located on a mountaintop, was attacked by a dozen militants armed with automatic weapons at 11:00pm, police spokesman Saqib Bangash told Dawn on the phone.

He said injured constables, Imtiaz and Barkatullah, who were first moved to Hangu District Headquarter Hospital, then to the KDA Teaching Hospital, Kohat, were referred to a major health facility in Peshawar due to their critical condition.

He said the area was connected to the mountain ranges of Sumari Payan, Kohat, North Waziristan and Thall, adding that it could not be confirmed where the militants came from.

Soon after the attack heavy firing was triggered between the policemen deployed at the checkpost and militants that continued for an hour.

Dawn learnt that no reinforcements were sent to the spot after the incident because the area was a thickly forested region, which remained in pitched darkness.

Published in Dawn, August 21st, 2024