File Photo. Asif Hassan—AFP
Four militants, one policeman killed, and six other policemen injured during four-hour shootout.
Four militants and one policeman were killed during a four-hour shootout in Swabi district late on Tuesday, officials said.
Heavily armed militants attacked local police in the Shawa area of Swabi, occupying a house and trading fire with officers for nearly four hours, said district police chief Muhammad Saeed Khan. “Four militants were killed and a policeman was martyred,” Khan said, adding that six other policemen were wounded. Local government officials confirmed the incident.
Pakistani troops have been engaged in a full-scale offensive against Taliban and other militants in North Waziristan and Khyber tribal districts since earlier last year. The country has stepped up its fight against militants since Taliban gunmen massacred more than 150 people, most of them children, at a school in Peshawar in December. Attacks in general have decreased since the offensive but security forces still face frequent assaults.