Islamabad: Two police personnel and a civilian were killed after terrorists launched a gun attack on a police checkpoint in the Charwazagai area of Pakistan's Khyber district, Geo News reported, citing Khyber Pakhtunkhwa police.

Speaking to Geo News, District Police Officer (DPO) Saleem Abbas said that terrorists targeted the police checkpoint at the Pak-Afghan highway near the Landi Kotal Bazar claimed the lives of police personnel, including Assistant Sub Inspector (ASI) Alamzeb, and injured one policeman and a civilian.

The terrorists fled from the site of the incident. The police said that the civilians killed and injured in the attack were passersby. Initially, the policemen and civilians were taken to the Landi Kotal Hospital for immediate medical assistance. However, they were later taken to the Hayatabad Medical Complex in Peshawar as they were in critical condition.

The police station targeted by the terrorists was established on the Pak-Afghan highway near Landi Kotal Bazar. Following the incident, security was put on high alert in the district, according to DPO.

The attack on police personnel comes at a time when Pakistan, especially Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan provinces, have been seeing a rise in terror activities for the past few months, according to a Geo News report.

According to the Centre for Research and Security Studies Annual Security report, Pakistan faced 380 violence-linked fatalities and 220 injuries, which included causalities of civilians, security personnel, and outlaws, due to 240 incidents of terror attacks and counter-terror operations during the second quarter of 2024, Geo News reported.

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan, both of which share a border with Afghanistan, have been facing terrorist attacks and reported nearly 92 per cent of all fatalities and 87 per cent of attacks -- wherein the former suffered 67 per cent and the latter suffered 25 per cent of all fatalities in the second quarter of 2024.

(With Inputs From Agencies)