Six police officers were killed and three others injured in two separate bomb explosions near the Afghan border in Pakistan’s northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province on Monday. Officials said a remote-controlled bomb targeted an armored police vehicle on the Gomal Bazaar road in Tank district, killing six officers on the spot. Another attack the same day in Lakki Marwat district injured three officers, one of them critically.

Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi condemned the attacks and paid tribute to the slain officers. Following the incidents, the province’s Counter-Terrorism Department launched operations in Peshawar, Bannu, and Khyber districts, killing at least eight armed suspects and claiming to have foiled several sabotage plots. Naqvi stated that security forces would continue their operations to restore peace in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

No group has claimed responsibility for the bombings so far. However, tensions along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border have escalated since October last year, with Pakistan accusing the Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) of launching cross-border attacks from Afghan territory and alleging that India provides the group with financial and logistical support.