Suspected militants kill 5 officers in ambushes on police vehicles in northwest Pakistan

PESHAWAR, Pakistan — A pair of attacks on police vehicles by suspected militants killed at least five officers in northwest Pakistan on Tuesday, authorities said.

The assailants ambushed a police vehicle and killed one officer in Kohat, a district in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province. When police reinforcements arrived minutes later, they launched another attack and killed four more officers, police official Kamran Khan said.

No group immediately claimed responsibility for the apparently coordinated attacks, which have increased across the country in recent months.

President Asif Ali Zardari condemned the attacks in Kohat and offered condolences to the victims’ families.

The latest violence followed an attack on a paramilitary post in Karak on Monday, when a drone loaded with explosives wounded several officers. The attackers later ambushed two ambulances transporting the wounded, killing three officers and burning their bodies before fleeing. The driver of the second ambulance transported several wounded officers despite suffering burn injuries and authorities recovered the remains of the three officers.

No group claimed responsibility for this week's attacks, but suspicion may fall on the Pakistani Taliban, also known as Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan, also known as TTP. The TTP is separate from, but closely allied with, Afghanistan’s Taliban. Islamabad has accused the group of operating from inside Afghanistan, a claim the TTP and Kabul deny.

Pakistan's military said it killed at least 70 militants on Sunday in strikes along the Afghan border, targeting hideouts of Pakistani militants blamed for recent attacks inside the country.