PESHAWAR, Pakistan -- Gunmen shot and killed four policemen in one attack on a patrol in northwest Pakistan and in another attack in the south two policemen were killed and two others wounded, police said Sunday.
Police official Arif Khan said the first attack took place Sunday in the Kohat district, about 90 kilometres south of Peshawar in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province. He said police launched a hunt for the attackers, who fled.
Mr Khan said the policemen were returning to their station after a patrol when they were attacked and that the area police chief, his second-in-command and two constables were killed.
Jamaat-ul-Ahrar, a breakaway faction of the Pakistani Taliban, claimed responsibility for the attack. It had been involved in previous such attacks in the province, which borders Afghanistan.
Also on Sunday, two gunmen riding a motorcycle opened fire on a stationary police van in an upscale neighbourhood in the southern port city of Karachi, killing two policemen and wounding two others. Area police officer Mohammad Ejaz said the attack took place in the Bahadurabad area, where a police patrol was stationed. He said a wounded constable was in critical condition.
Lashkar-e-Jhangvi, another extremist group considered close to the Islamic State group, claimed responsibility for the attack.