A shootout in northwestern Pakistan leaves a senior police officer and 2 militants dead

PESHAWAR, Pakistan (AP) — Pakistani police raided a militant hideout in the country’s northwest early Tuesday, triggering an intense shootout in which a senior police officer was killed and two others wounded, a local police official said.

Two militants were also killed in the exchange of fire in Mardan, a city in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, Hidayat Ullah told reporters.

Ullah identified the slain police superintendent as Ijaz Khan, who led the raid. Ullah provided no further information about the slain militants, saying officers were still investigating.

The Pakistani Taliban, known as the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan or TTP, routinely target security forces in the northwest bordering Afghanistan. The TPP are a separate group but they are allies of the Afghan Taliban, who seized power in Afghanistan in August 2021 as U.S. and NATO troops were in the final stages of their pullout.