Checkpoint suicide bombing kills at least 11 in northwestern Pakistan

A suicide bombing at a police checkpoint in Dera Ismail Khan killed at least 11 people and left about 30 others wounded, according to officials in Pakistan’s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province. The attack took place in the district in the country’s northwest, emergency-service representative Bilal Faizi said.

Safdar Baloch, the local police chief, said those hit included checkpoint security staff and people travelling past the site, with members of those two groups making up most of the dead and injured. Officials released no further information about the victims or the circumstances of the explosion.

The Pakistani Taliban, whose formal name is Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan and which is commonly referred to as the TTP, announced that it was responsible in a statement. No additional details were given about the bomber or the method used to carry out the attack.

Pakistan has experienced an increase in militant attacks in recent years. Many have been claimed by the TTP, while others have been attributed to the outlawed Baloch Liberation Army, or BLA. The BLA is a separatist organization whose activity is concentrated mainly in neighbouring Balochistan province.

The two organizations are separate groups. The TTP is also distinct from Afghanistan’s Taliban movement, although the Pakistani group is allied with it. Afghanistan’s Taliban returned to power in 2021; the alliance does not mean that the Afghan Taliban claimed or carried out this bombing.

The known toll stands at at least 11 dead and about 30 injured, based on the figures provided by the provincial emergency-service spokesman. Baloch’s account indicates that security personnel and people moving through the area bore most of the casualties. Authorities had not provided information about the injured, arrests, or subsequent investigative steps.