In a surprise attack on the Ghaziabad and Frontier Road check posts at around 10pm, militants equipped with RPG-7 rockets and heavy machine guns, fired shots at the Mattani police station.
Despite being short of ammunition and heavily outnumbered, police and FC personnel retaliated with gun fire which continued for almost 45 minutes.
Militants had occupied the high ground around the check posts and fired from there.
Talking to The Express Tribune, Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) Fazal-e-Mula said that SP Khan had reached the spot after the attack and was leading his men when he was hit by machine gun fire. His gunman was also among the dead.
“SP Khurshid is among the dead along with other men,” said Fazal-e-Mula, which Station House Officer Matani Ishrat Yar also confirmed.
A large contingent of police, led by SP Khan and DSP Fazal-e-Mula, from the Badabher police station had been deployed to the area.
Militants over ran the Ghaziabad check post building and torched it completely, also killing several FC personnel at the check post.
The injured comprised seven FC personnel and three policemen. They were shifted to Lady Reading Hospital (LRH).
DSP Fazal-e-Mula added that dozens of militants were involved in the attack and a search operation had been initiated for militants, still hiding in the dark.
This was the second such attack in the past 12 hours. Earlier in the morning an FC constable was killed in a sniper attack on the Frontier Road in Sheikhan in the jurisdiction of Badabher police station.
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