PESHAWAR, Pakistan (AP) — Security forces raided a Pakistani Taliban hideout on the outskirts of the northwestern city of Peshawar on Wednesday, triggering a shootout that killed three police officers and other insurgents, police said.
Militant commander Abdul Rahim was among the insurgents killed in the attack in the town of Matni, local police officer Ashfaq Khan said.
Khan did not provide further details and there was no immediate comment from the Pakistani Taliban – known as Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan or TTP – and are an ally of the Afghan Taliban.
The TTP has intensified its attacks on security forces since the Afghan Taliban seized power in neighboring Afghanistan in 2021.
Pakistani authorities frequently accuse Afghanistan’s Taliban rulers of harboring TTP fighters, an accusation Kabul rejects. TTP denies using Afghan soil for attacks in Pakistan.
Peshawar is the capital of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, on the border with Afghanistan.
