At least three policemen were killed in northwest Pakistan when Islamist militants stormed a district police headquarters in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province on Monday, a police source said.
Three assailants were killed by police, he added.
The source, requesting anonymity due to the sensitivity of the matter, said three policemen were killed while resisting the assault on the Police Lines of District Bannu. The district borders the restive North Waziristan tribal district on the Pakistan-Afghanistan border.
Attack By TTP
Islamist militant group Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan has claimed responsibility for the attack, a spokesperson for the group said.
The roads around the complex have been closed to traffic as security forces moved to neutralise the remaining attackers, the police source added.
Bannu is about 350 kilometres from Pakistan’s capital Islamabad, which is under strict security lockdown due to the arrival of Chinese Premier Li Qiang on Monday ahead of a regional leaders’ meeting this week.
Islamabad Guarded
Pakistan’s capital was under strict security lockdown as Chinese Premier Li Qiang landed in the city on Monday ahead of a heads-of-government gathering of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation this week.
Li’s visit is the first by a Chinese premier to Pakistan in 11 years, Pakistan’s Prime Minister’s Office said. Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif received Li at the airport.
The government has announced a three-day public holiday in Islamabad, with schools and businesses shut and large contingents of police and paramilitary forces deployed.
Pakistan army troops will be responsible for the security of the capital’s Red Zone, the location of the parliament and a diplomatic enclave and where most of the meetings will take place, according to the interior ministry.
Tensions Between China-Pakistan
The threat alert has been high in the South Asian nation ahead of the SCO summit, especially after the killing of two Chinese engineers and shooting to death of 21 miners.
Tensions have mounted after jailed former Prime Minister Imran Khan called for a protest on Oct. 15 to press for his release and agitate against the coalition government. This was followed by violent clashes between his party loyalists and security forces.
Islamabad has sought to curb all movement of Chinese nationals in the city, citing fears they could be targets for violence from separatist militants.
SCO Summit
The 23rd meeting of the SCO, which comprises nine full members including China, India, Iran and Russia, is scheduled for Tuesday and Wednesday in Islamabad.
As well as attending the SCO summit, Prime Minister Li is also undertaking a four-day bilateral visit to Pakistan from Monday to Thursday, accompanied by senior officials, Pakistan’s foreign office said.
Li and Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif will lead their respective delegations to discuss economic and trade ties and cooperation under the China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), a $65 billion investment in the South Asian country under Chinese President Xi Jinping’s Belt and Road Initiative.
Li will also inaugurate the CPEC funded Gwadar International Airport in restive southwestern Balochistan province, which borders Afghanistan and Iran, Pakistan’s prime minister’s office said.
The SCO participants will be represented by the prime ministers of China, Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan as well as the first vice president of Iran and external affairs minister of India, the foreign office said.
(with inputs from Reuters)
