Suicide Bombing at Pakistan Police Post Kills 12, TTP Claims Responsibility
A suicide attack on a police checkpost in northwest Pakistan killed at least 12 people and injured up to 30, with the Pakistani Taliban claiming responsibility.
A suicide bomber struck a police checkpost in northwest Pakistan on 26 September, killing at least 12 people and injuring between 18 and 30 others, officials said. The attack took place in Darazinda tehsil of Dera Ismail Khan district, an area bordering both Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan provinces.
The bomber drove an explosives-laden tractor-trolley into the Aman Mela police post, according to Regional Police Officer Khan Mubashir Malik. Among the dead were two customs and excise officials, while most other victims were security personnel and passersby, local police chief Safdar Baloch said.
The injured and the bodies of the deceased were taken to the District Headquarters Hospital. Bomb disposal teams arrived at the scene to determine the type of explosives used. Security forces cordoned off the area and launched a search operation, and an investigation is ongoing.
The Pakistani Taliban, known as Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), claimed responsibility for the attack. The group is separate from but closely allied with the Afghan Taliban, which returned to power in Afghanistan in 2021.
The assault came two days after border clashes between Pakistan and Afghanistan along their southwestern frontier, in which at least 13 Afghan Taliban fighters were killed. That fighting followed Pakistani strikes inside Afghan territory earlier in the week. The escalating tensions threaten ongoing peace mediation efforts involving China, Turkey, Qatar and Saudi Arabia.
Pakistan has repeatedly accused Afghanistan of sheltering TTP fighters and has demanded that Kabul stop cross-border attacks. Afghan authorities deny allowing such activities on their soil.
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa has faced years of unrest driven by militant violence and cross-border fighter movement. The TTP ended its ceasefire with the government in November 2022, after which attacks in the province rose sharply. In December 2023, a bombing near the same area killed at least 23 security personnel, one of the deadliest attacks in the region. Dera Ismail Khan lies close to South Waziristan, a former militant stronghold where the Pakistani military has conducted repeated operations. Alongside the TTP, the Baloch Liberation Army remains active in Balochistan province.