Gunmen kill 11 police officers, injure several others in Pakistan ambush

Gunmen armed with rocket-propelled grenades ambushed a police convoy in eastern Punjab province, killing at least 11 officers and wounding seven others, authorities said.

No one immediately claimed responsibility for the attack in the Rahim Yar Khan city on Thursday. The officers were ambushed while on patrol in a deserted area in search of robbers who operate in the region.

Punjabi police said the gunmen were likely robbers and not militants. The victims were taken to a nearby hospital.

Pakistan has witnessed a surge in violence and militant attacks in recent years, but such a high number of police casualties in a single attack is rare.

Security forces often carry out operations against bandits in Punjab and in the southern Sindh province, where they hide in rural, forested areas and where they have killed several police officers in attacks over the past months.

Thursday's attack in the district of Rahim Yar Khan's area of Kacha is known for robbers' hideouts along the Indus River, where hundreds of heavily armed bandits evade police.

Police said that one of the police vehicles broke down while passing through accumulated rainwater along farm fields when dozens of bandits launched the attack.