Six police officers and twenty-five more have been injured following a suicide bomb attack on a police station in northwest Pakistan.

According to Kamal Khan, a police officer, the suicide bomber blew up his explosive-laden car at the main gate of the police station.

Khan said the bomb attack was escorted by open fire from militants towards the security forces.

“Militants opened fire, and a shootout followed for hours between them and government security forces before three attackers were gunned down and several officers transferred to the hospital in critical condition,” Khan added.

It is alleged that the militant Pakistani and Afghanistan Taliban group, Tehreek-e-Jihad Pakistan, owned up to the attack and said it was directed towards the police station officers.

The attack happened in Dera Ismail Khan, a city in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province bordering Pakistan and Afghanistan, which is a former stronghold of Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP).

According to authorities, since 2022, the attacks by the Pakistani Taliban on security forces have increased, since the Taliban took control of Afghanistan in 2021.