In a tragic incident, at least 23 security officials lost their lives, and several others sustained injuries in a heinous attack involving a suicide bomber and gunmen targeting a police station in northwest Pakistan. The assailants initiated the attack by detonating an explosive-laden vehicle at a police station in Dera Ismail Khan, a city situated in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province bordering Afghanistan.
The suicide bomber’s detonation was followed by a coordinated gunfire assault as militants engaged in a shootout with security forces, as reported by Kamal Khan, a police officer at the scene. Numerous individuals were wounded, with some in critical condition, according to Aizaz Mehmood, an official from the state-run rescue service.
The newly formed militant group Tehreek-e-Jihad Pakistan (TJP), believed to be an offshoot of the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), claimed responsibility for the attack. Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, a former stronghold of the TTP, has witnessed heightened security operations against militants, including the Pakistani military.
Caretaker Prime Minister Anwaarul Haq Kakar condemned the attack, emphasizing that such cowardly actions cannot diminish the morale of the security forces. This tragic incident marks another instance of extremist violence in Pakistan’s border regions, with the country experiencing a surge in militant attacks, particularly since the Taliban regained power in Afghanistan in 2021.
In January of the same year, a devastating suicide bomb attack on a mosque in Peshawar, the capital of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, claimed the lives of nearly 101 people, underscoring the ongoing security challenges in the region.
