PESHAWAR, Pakistan (AP) — Security forces raided a Pakistani Taliban hideout on the outskirts of the northwestern city of Peshawar on Wednesday, sparking a shootout that left three police officers and as many insurgents dead, police said.
One of the insurgents killed in the attack in the town of Matni was militant commander Abdul Rahim, local police officer Ashfaq Khan said.
Khan gave no further details and there was no immediate comment from the Pakistani Taliban – known as Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan or TTP – and an ally of the Afghan Taliban.
The TTP has stepped up its attacks on security forces since the Afghan Taliban seized power in neighboring Afghanistan in 2021.
Pakistani officials often accuse Afghan Taliban leaders of harboring TTP fighters, a charge Kabul rejects. The TTP denies using Afghan soil to launch attacks inside Pakistan.
Peshawar is the capital of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, bordering Afghanistan.
