On Wednesday 11 November 2026, at least 10 police officers were killed in an ambush near Kohat, in Pakistan's Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, as their party returned from an operation against illegal gold mining. Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Police said 18 militants were also killed in the fighting that followed, and Rescue 1122 said 12 injured officers were taken to hospital. The Pakistani Taliban, known as the Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), claimed responsibility hours later. The attack was a heavy loss for the district's police, and it came a day after the local administration tightened restrictions on the excavators used in unauthorised gold mining.

What happened in Darabukach

The police party had been taking part in a joint operation with the local civil administration in the Darabukach locality, near Kohat city, against people involved in illegal gold mining. According to a statement from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Police, quoted by Dawn, the officers were on their way back when they were attacked. The statement said the attackers were from Fitna al Khawarij, the name the state uses for the banned Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan, and that they had acted at the behest of criminal elements. Police said their officers fought back, and that the exchange of fire continued for hours.

At least 10 officers were killed, including two senior officers, according to the Associated Press, which cited a local police official. Images shared by Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Police identified one of those killed as Deputy Superintendent of Police Haidar Zaman. Twelve injured officers were taken to hospital by Rescue 1122, its spokesperson Jawad Afridi said in a video message. Early reports had put the police death toll higher: Reuters, citing a rescue group, first reported that 11 officers were feared killed. Because the figures differed, this article uses the lower figure, at least 10, which matches the police statement and the later reporting.

Why the police were in the area: illegal gold mining

The operation was aimed at illegal placer gold mining around Kohat. Placer gold is gold found in sand and gravel, often near rivers, and it can be extracted with excavators and simple washing equipment. In Kohat, the district administration had been trying to stop unauthorised mining for some time. A day before the attack, the Kohat deputy commissioner imposed a 60-day ban on parking excavators within Block-C and Block-D of the placer gold areas and nearby mining areas. The order said excavators parked at homes near the mining areas could easily be used for unauthorised mining, and that earlier operations to clear the areas had not stopped the practice. The administration also banned the sale, purchase and supply of petroleum products in open containers and bottles for use in unauthorised gold mining.

That background matters because the police linked the two issues directly. In its statement, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Police said the attackers had acted in collusion with criminal elements and that the link between the criminal mafia and the militants was clear. The Associated Press noted that the police offered no evidence for that claim. Readers should therefore treat the attack itself as confirmed by the police and by two major news organisations, and the claimed link to the mining trade as the police's account, not as an established fact.

Who claimed the attack

Hours after the ambush, the Pakistani Taliban claimed responsibility, according to the Associated Press. The group, the Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan, is separate from the Afghan Taliban but allied with it, and it has stepped up attacks in Pakistan since the Afghan Taliban returned to power in 2021. Pakistan accuses the government in Kabul of sheltering TTP fighters, a charge Kabul denies. Pakistan has also carried out strikes inside Afghanistan since last year, saying they targeted alleged TTP hideouts. The Kohat claim fits that wider pattern, but it does not by itself prove who planned the ambush or how it was carried out. A claim of responsibility is a statement by a group, not independent proof, and the police investigation had not yet reported its findings when this article was written.

What the Kohat police ambush tells us about security in the district

Kohat has seen repeated attacks on police in recent weeks, and this was the latest in a run of conflict incidents in the region. On 7 October, seven police officers were injured when attackers struck a police checkpost in Kohat. Last week, two police officers were killed and another was injured when unidentified gunmen opened fire on them in the Mohmand district. Last month, an officer was killed in an attack on a police post in Bajaur, and on 20 October an additional station house officer of the Miranshah police station was killed in firing near the Miranshah Bypass Road in North Waziristan. The Pakistan Institute for Conflict and Security Studies said the country's security environment showed considerable volatility from 30 October to 5 November, with renewed militant activity in parts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and the former tribal districts, alongside intensified counterterrorism operations.

The political backdrop is also unsettled. Khyber Pakhtunkhwa has been under governor's rule and a state of emergency since 11 October, when the federal government took those steps, citing what it called the PTI-led provincial government's deliberate disengagement from the counterterrorism fight. Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Governor Faisal Karim Kundi expressed sorrow over the Kohat deaths and sought a detailed report, while Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi condemned the attack and paid tribute to the officers killed. Even the official accounts differ on one point: the police statement said the attack happened as the party was returning after the operation, while the governor's statement said it happened during the operation. That difference has not been explained.

What is still unclear

The reporting so far leaves several questions open. The exact timing and duration of the ambush, and how the attackers knew the police party's route and timing, have not been made public. Apart from the 18 militants the police said were killed, little has been published about the attackers: how many there were, how they were armed, or whether any were captured. The condition of the 12 injured officers has not been reported in detail, and it is not yet clear what will follow — whether the excavator and fuel restrictions will be enforced more strictly, whether further operations will take place in the Darabukach area, or what the governor's detailed report will conclude. Until those answers appear in official statements or further reporting, they should be treated as open, not assumed.

  • How the attackers learned the timing and route of the returning police party.
  • How many attackers took part, and whether any were captured or escaped.
  • What the governor's detailed report concludes, and whether the mining restrictions are tightened further.

Residents should rely on official updates rather than rumours, and can find local contact numbers through our emergency numbers page.

What our records show, and what they miss

Our records show a run of recent attacks on police and security forces in the region, including the checkpoint attack in Kulgam and the IED hideouts found in Mir Ali, North Waziristan, which we covered in the past two days. You can follow new entries as they appear on the live map and in today's incidents, and read our other reporting in articles and reports. What our records do not show is a full picture of the Kohat attack itself: we have no casualty list beyond the figures the police gave, no map of the ambush site, and no record of the investigation's outcome. That is why this article relies on the police statement and on reporting by Dawn, the Associated Press and Reuters, and why it says clearly where the sources disagree.

The short version

  • At least 10 police officers were killed and 18 militants died in an ambush near Kohat on 11 November 2026.
  • The police party was returning from an operation against illegal gold mining in the Darabukach area.
  • Twelve injured officers were taken to hospital, according to Rescue 1122.
  • The Pakistani Taliban claimed responsibility hours after the attack.
  • Early reports differed on the police death toll; this article uses the lower figure, at least 10.