A car bombing at a police post killed at least four officers in ​northwestern Pakistan on Saturday and was followed by an ambush on ‌police personnel rushing to the scene to provide backup, local media reported.

Police official Sajjad Khan said most of the 15 officers who were on duty at the post ​on the outskirts of the city of Bannu were feared ​dead and that the installation had been destroyed, according to Reuters.

He added the fighting ⁠was ongoing and the extent of the damage would only be ​known once the operation was over.

“The terrorists first attacked the police post with ​an explosives-laden car, and then militants entered its premises and opened fire on the police personnel,” another police official said, asking not to be identified.

“Other law enforcement personnel ​were sent to help the police, but the terrorists ambushed them and ​caused some casualties.”

Police sources said the militants also used drones in the attack.

Ambulances from ‌rescue ⁠agencies and civil hospitals were dispatched to the scene, with officials saying a state of emergency has been declared in government hospitals in Bannu.

A militant alliance known as the Ittehad-ul-Mujahideen claimed responsibility for the attack.

U.S. ally ​the United Arab Emirates said its air defences were engaging missile and drone threats from Iran early on Friday in a further ‌test of the shaky, month-long ceasefire between the U.S. and Iran.

There were few details immediately available about the latest attack on the UAE, which came a day after the U.S. and Iran exchanged fire around the Strait of Hormuz, and as Washington awaited a response from Tehran to its proposal to end the conflict. Iran has often targeted the UAE and other Gulf countries that ​host U.S. bases since the war began on February 28, Reuters reported.

President Donald Trump said on Thursday three U.S. Navy destroyers were attacked as they ​moved through the strait, a conduit for around a fifth of the world’s oil and liquefied natural gas flows that Iran has ⁠all but closed since the conflict started.

“Three World Class American Destroyers just transited, very successfully, out of the Strait of Hormuz, under fire. There was no damage ​done to the three Destroyers, but great damage done to the Iranian attackers,” Trump wrote on Truth Social.

Trump later told reporters the ceasefire was still in effect and ​sought to play down the exchange.

“They trifled with us today. We blew them away,” Trump said in Washington.

Iran’s top joint military command accused the U.S. of violating the ceasefire by targeting an Iranian oil tanker and another ship, and of carrying out air attacks on civilian areas on Qeshm Island in the Strait of Hormuz and the nearby coastal areas of Bandar ​Khamir and Sirik on the mainland. The military said it responded by attacking U.S. military vessels east of the strait and south of the port of Chabahar.

A ​spokesperson for Iran’s Khatam al-Anbiya Central Headquarters said the Iranian strikes inflicted “significant damage,” but U.S. Central Command said none of its assets were hit.

Iran’s Press TV later reported that, following ‌several hours ⁠of fire, “the situation on Iranian islands and coastal cities by the Strait of Hormuz is back to normal now.”

The two sides have occasionally exchanged gunfire since the ceasefire took effect on April 7, with Iran hitting targets in Gulf countries including the UAE.

Oil prices rose in early trade in Asia on Friday, with Brent crude jumping above $100 a barrel after the latest clashes between the U.S. and Iran.

TRUMP URGES NEGOTIATED END TO WAR

Trump suggested ongoing talks with Tehran remained on track despite Thursday’s ​hostilities, telling reporters, “We’re negotiating with the ​Iranians.”

Before the latest strikes, the U.S. ⁠had floated a proposal that would formally end the conflict but did not address key U.S. demands that Iran suspend its nuclear work and reopen the strait.

Tehran said it had not yet reached a decision on the emerging plan.

Even so, Trump said Tehran had ​acknowledged his demand that Iran could never get a nuclear weapon, a prohibition he said was spelled out in the ​U.S. proposal.

“There’s zero chance. ⁠And they know that, and they’ve agreed to that. Let’s see if they are willing to sign it,” Trump said.

Asked when any deal might be reached, Trump said, “It might not happen, but it could happen any day. I believe they want to deal more than I do.”

The war has tested Trump’s relationship with his U.S. base of ⁠supporters, after he ​had campaigned against involving the United States in foreign wars and promised to bring down fuel ​prices.

Average U.S. gasoline prices have climbed more than 40% since late February, rising by about $1.20 a gallon to more than $4, according to data from the American Automobile Association, as disruptions to oil shipments ​through the Strait of Hormuz pushed crude oil prices higher.

The White House believes it is getting ‌close to an agreement with Iran on a one-page memorandum of understanding to end the war and set a framework for more detailed nuclear negotiations, Axios reported on Wednesday, citing two U.S. officials and two ​other sources briefed on the issue.

The U.S. expects Iranian responses on several key ​points in the next 48 hours, according to the report which cautioned ⁠that nothing has been agreed yet but said this was the closest the parties ​had been to an agreement since the war began, Reuters reported.

Among other provisions, the deal would involve ​Iran committing to a moratorium on nuclear enrichment, the U.S. agreeing to lift its sanctions and release billions in frozen Iranian funds, and both sides lifting restrictions around transit through the Strait of Hormuz, ​Axios said.

The one-page, 14-point memorandum of understanding is being negotiated between U.S. envoys Steve ​Witkoff and Jared Kushner and several Iranian officials, both directly and through mediators, the report said.

In its ‌current ⁠form, the memorandum would declare an end to the war in the region and the start of a 30-day period of negotiations on a detailed agreement to open the strait, limit Iran’s nuclear programme and lift U.S. sanctions, Axios added.

Iran’s restrictions on shipping through ​the strait and the ​U.S. naval blockade ⁠would be gradually lifted during that 30-day period, Axios said, citing one U.S. official who added that if the negotiations collapse, U.S. ​forces would be able to restore the blockade or resume military ​action, read the report.

Iran said ⁠earlier on Wednesday it would accept a peace deal only if it was “fair”, after U.S. President Donald Trump paused a three-day-old naval mission tasked with reopening the Strait of Hormuz that had ⁠shaken the ​war’s month-old ceasefire.

Reuters could not immediately verify the ​report. The U.S. State Department and White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

U.S. stock index ​futures extended gains following the Axios report.