At least 10 officers were martyred and six wounded when terrorists attacked a police station in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Dera Ismail Khan in the wee hours of Monday.

“More than 30 terrorists launched an attack from three directions. There was an exchange of fire for over two and a half hours,” KP police chief Akhtar Hayat Gandapur told AFP.

Unidentified terrorists with “Indian weapons” attacked the police station in DI Khan’s Tehsil Daraban last night, according to police.

The attack comes just days before Pakistan votes in a general election that has already seen dozens of attacks on candidates and party supporters.

This is the second such attack Daraban. At least 23 soldiers were similarly martyred in December when a six-man suicide squad drove an explosive-laden truck into a military camp, set up in a police station complex.

At least six personnel of the Elite Police Force were among the deceased. The wounded persons have been moved to the district headquarters hospital.

The deceased were identified as Muhammad Aslam, Ghulam Fareed, Muhammad Javed, Muhammad Idrees, Muhammad Imran, Safdar, Kausar, Ahteram Syed, Rafiullah, and Hameedul Haq.

Terrorists descended on the station from all sides, police said and added they also threw hand grenades and sprayed the station. Police also responded to the attack, however, the militants managed to flee the area.

DHQ Medical Superintendent Dr Farrukh Jamil confirmed that 10 bodies were received and six wounded were treated at the hospital.

Bodies were handed over to police after the post-mortem examination, he said and added that the injured were out of danger.

The area has been cordoned off and the search was under for terrorists. Police have also called up additional personnel of the Quick Response Force.

Funeral prayers for the martyred policemen would be offered in the Ijaz Shaheed Police Line.

The border regions of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province have for years been a hotbed of militancy, with both banned TTP and Islamic State terrorists attacking government and security targets.

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Monday’s attack occurred at 3am when militants first targeted constables using snipers and then entered the Chodwan Police Station, police officers in Draban region said. They started indiscriminate firing.

“After entering the building of the police station, the terrorists used hand grenades which caused more casualties to the police,” said Malik Aneesul Hassan, the deputy superintendent of police in Draban.

Earlier this month, the Inter-Services Public Relations claimed to have killed a highly-wanted terrorist and his accomplice in an intelligence-based operation in DI Khan.

“During the conduct of operation, intense fire exchange took place between own troops and terrorists as a result of which HVT Terrorist ring leader Ashraf Sheikh and Terrorist Burhan Ullah were sent to hell,” the statement said.

The military’s media wing said that terrorists were involved in a number of major terrorist activities.

With input from AFP and Reuters