At least 12 people were killed and 30 wounded on Saturday when a suicide attacker rammed an explosives-laden vehicle into a roadside police checkpoint in Pakistan’s northwestern Dera Ismail Khan district, according to police.
The attack occurred near Aman Mela in the Darazinda area of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, with police saying most of those killed and wounded were security personnel and passersby.
Officers, customs officials and members of the forest department were among the dead, while the injured included police officers, customs personnel and at least two civilians.
The explosives-laden vehicle was rammed into the checkpoint, while reports indicated the blast may have been preceded by gunfire from assailants.
Rescue teams from the Darazinda station reached the scene and began relief operations, providing medical assistance before transporting the wounded to hospital.
The checkpoint is a significant security post because a large contingent of officials is regularly stationed there.
Dera Ismail Khan sits at a crossroads linking Balochistan, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Punjab provinces, where the movement of goods means customs officials are deployed alongside police to prevent smuggling.
The district is also close to South Waziristan, an area that has experienced armed attacks for more than a decade and where Pakistani forces have conducted military operations.
No group immediately claimed responsibility for the bombing, though suspicion fell on the Pakistan Taliban, known as the TTP, which and its affiliates have carried out recent attacks in the region.
The TTP is separate from but closely allied with the Afghan Taliban.
The bombing came two days after fighting between Pakistan and Afghanistan along their southwestern border killed at least 13 Afghan Taliban fighters, according to Pakistan’s government.
The clashes followed Pakistani strikes on alleged armed group hideouts inside Afghanistan earlier in the week.
Pakistani officials have repeatedly accused Afghanistan’s Taliban authorities of allowing TTP members to operate from Afghan territory, allegations Kabul has denied.
The renewed hostilities threaten mediation efforts by China, Turkiye, Qatar and Saudi Arabia aimed at securing lasting peace between the neighbouring countries.