Two cops were injured in a late-night attack by terrorists on a police checkpost in the Puran tehsil of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Shangla district, police said on Thursday.

Aloch Station House Officer (SHO) Bakht Zeb Khan told Dawn.com that over a dozen assailants attacked the checkpost late at night, however, the police personnel on duty thwarted the attack which forced the assailants to flee.

The SHO said, “Two cops were injured when they retaliated against the terrorists.”

Rescue 1122 spokesperson, Rasool Khan Sharif confirmed to Dawn.com that two police personnel were injured in the attack, adding that they were shifted to the Pir Muhammad Khan Shaheed Hospital and were referred to the Saidu Teaching Hospital in Swat for any further treatment.

After hearing about the attack, a Dawn.com correspondent said that local political leaders from different parties called on local residents to come out against the attackers and fight alongside them. They led the group equipped with weapons to the police checkpost, however, the assailants had already fled the area.

The country has lately witnessed a sharp uptick in the number of attacks targeting security forces, other law enforcement agencies, and security checkpoints, particularly in Balochistan and KP.

Police checkpoints in remote areas of Shangla district are noted to be vulnerable to terrorist attacks due to their location in isolated regions surrounded by forests.

Speaking on condition of anonymity, a senior police officer criticised the construction of the check-posts in isolated locations.

In another attack, on Dec 17, over 30 terrorists stormed a police checkpost in Gunangar area of Chakesar, which is located around 10 kilometres from the Karakoram Highway in Dandai area. The attack left an assistant sub-inspect and a constable dead, and caused injuries to three others.

The Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) Malakand division accepted responsibility for the attack, confirming it on their social media account. They also warned that they would hit more targets in the near future in Shangla and other parts of the region.