At least 12 people were killed and 30 wounded in a bombing attack targeting a security installation in Bannu, a city in Pakistan’s northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, Al Jazeera reports.
The attack involved a complex assault on the security compound.
According to a security official who requested anonymity, two attackers rammed vehicles laden with explosives into the compound wall, creating breaches through which additional attackers then attempted to storm the site. Security forces repelled the assault after an exchange of fire.
Muhammad Noman, a spokesman for Bannu District Hospital, confirmed the casualty figures, stating that all victims were civilians who had been trapped under collapsed buildings and walls as a result of the explosions. Hospital records indicate that at least seven children were among the deceased.
A group affiliated with the Pakistan Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack, asserting that dozens of Pakistani security forces were killed. However, there has been no immediate confirmation from the military regarding casualties among security personnel.
A police official, speaking anonymously to AFP, stated that six attackers were killed in the ensuing “exchange of fire” after the initial blasts. The explosions were powerful, creating “two four-foot craters” and damaging at least eight houses in the vicinity.
The group Jaish al-Fursan also claimed responsibility for the attack, identifying the source of the blasts as explosive-laden vehicles. This marks the third assault in Pakistan since the start of Ramadan on Sunday
Ali Amin Gandapur, the chief minister for Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, condemned the attack and has requested a report from senior police officials.
The incident follows a suicide bombing days earlier that killed six people at an Islamic religious school in the same province, a school reportedly attended by key Taliban leaders.
The attack underscores a concerning trend of escalating violence in Pakistan. Last year was the deadliest in a decade, with a surge in attacks resulting in over 1,600 fatalities, according to the Center for Research and Security Studies, an Islamabad-based analysis group.
Pakistan has repeatedly accused the Taliban government in Kabul of failing to eliminate fighters using Afghan territory as a safe haven to plan attacks inside Pakistan. The Taliban government in Afghanistan denies these allegations.
