Eleven police officers were killed and 28 others injured in an armed attack on a security outpost in Hangu district, northwestern Pakistan, according to a provincial police headquarters statement issued Thursday. The attack took place Wednesday night in the district near the Afghan border. City police chief Tariq Habib told journalists that one of those killed was a deputy superintendent of police.

Police said members of the banned Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan, or TTP, carried out the attack. The Pakistani government refers to the group as “Fitna al-Khawarij.” Police said 15 attackers were also killed during a counter-operation.

The TTP has long targeted security forces and government installations in northwestern and southwestern Pakistan, the report said. Attacks targeting security forces have increased notably in the provinces of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan in recent times. Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi strongly condemned the attack and expressed deep condolences to the families of the police personnel who were killed.