A Rescue 1122 statement reported on Wednesday put the number of police personnel killed in the Kohat ambush at 11, with 12 injured taken to hospital. Kohat police had earlier confirmed 10 dead, including Deputy Superintendent of Police Gambat Haider Zaman and Sub-Inspector Mukhtiar. Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Governor Faisal Karim Kundi condemned the attack, asked the police for a detailed report and directed that those involved be brought to justice, according to The Express Tribune.
KOHAT: Eleven police personnel, including a deputy superintendent of police, were killed on Wednesday when militants ambushed a police team in the Gambat tehsil of Kohat district, police said.
The attack took place in the Darbokach and Jalandhar Banda area, between Kohat and Karak, as the team was travelling in connection with an operation against illegal gold mining along the River Indus. Kohat police spokesperson Muhammad Nauman Zeb said the dead include DSP Gambat Haider Zaman and Sub-Inspector Mukhtiar.
According to the spokesperson, the attackers opened fire from the hilltops overlooking the road. Five police vehicles were set on fire in the attack. Police returned fire, a heavy exchange followed, and reinforcements were sent to the area.
Rescue 1122 said 12 injured personnel were taken to hospital, and an emergency was declared at the District Headquarters Teaching Hospital in Kohat.
The figure matches the toll a rescue spokesman had earlier given to Reuters, when the 11 were still described as feared killed.
No group had claimed responsibility for the attack at the time of reporting. The Associated Press reported that suspicion falls on the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan, the Pakistani Taliban, which has stepped up its attacks on security forces in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
The district police officer for Kohat said the pursuit of the attackers would continue, along with the operation against them and against the illegal mining network in the area.
The ambush is one of the deadliest single attacks on police in the province this year. Police data cited by the Associated Press of Pakistan put the number of attacks on police in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa at 680 in the first nine months of 2026, up from 508 in the same period of 2025.
