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Six Pakistani Police Killed In Attacks Claimed By Extremist Groups


A Pakistani policeman walks past a bullet-riddled car in Kohat a city in northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province.
A Pakistani policeman walks past a bullet-riddled car in Kohat a city in northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province.

Six Pakistani police officers were killed by gunmen in two separate attacks, police officials said on May 21.

Police official Arif Khan said gunmen shot and killed four officers, including the area police chief, who were returning from a patrol about 90 kilometers south of Peshawar in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province.

Also killed were the chief's second-in-command and two constables, the official said.

Jamaat-ul-Ahrar, a breakaway faction of the Pakistani Taliban, claimed responsibility for the attack.

Jamaat-ul-Ahrar is the group that claimed responsibility for the December 2014 terrorist attack on a Peshawar school that killed 147 people, most of them children.

In the other attack, two gunmen on a motorcycle opened fire on a parked police van in Karachi. Two officers were killed and two others were wounded.

Lashkar-e-Jhangvi, an extremist group linked to Islamic State (IS) militants, claimed responsibility.

Meanwhile, Pakistani authorities detained nearly 20 people on May 21 over accusations that they posted "antistate" content on social media.

Officials who asked not to be identified said the men were detained under Pakistan's cybercrimes law, which prohibits anyone from criticizing or ridiculing the state or its institutions, such as the military.

Based on reporting by AP and AFP

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