Suicide bomber assaults police station in northwest Pakistan, killing 23 officers and wounding 32
PESHAWAR, Pakistan (AP) – A suicide bomber detonated his explosive-laden car at a police station’s fundamental gate in northwest Pakistan early Tuesday, killing a minimum of 23 troops and wounding 32 others, and inflicting part of the constructing to break down upon influence, the navy and officers mentioned.
The suicide assault – one of many deadliest assaults since January – led to “multiple causalities,” Pakistan’s military mentioned in an announcement. It added that six militants additionally opened fireplace and a shootout ensued for hours between them and safety forces earlier than “the terrorists” had been gunned down. Local police officers additionally confirmed all six attackers had been lifeless.
Separately, the assertion mentioned that “troops killed 27 insurgents” in a number of operations in the identical area.
The dying toll from Tuesday’s assault was more likely to rise as a few of the officers had been in vital situation, authorities mentioned. The our bodies of the 23 safety forces killed had been transferred to a hospital, Mohammad Adnan, a senior police official instructed reporters.
The assault focused the Daraban police station in Dera Ismail Khan, a metropolis in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province bordering Afghanistan, native police officer Kamal mentioned. The province is a former stronghold of the militant Pakistani Taliban group, also called Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan, or TTP.
The newly shaped militant group Tehreek-e-Jihad Pakistan, or TJP – believed to be an offshoot of the TTP – claimed duty for the assault in an announcement, saying it focused the officers who had been on the police station. The assertion additionally claimed that 20 officers had been killed. However, this couldn’t be independently verified.
A bigger variety of safety forces from throughout the nation have had a relentless presence these days on the Daraban police station the place they had been conducting intelligence-based operations towards militants within the space with assist from native police, mentioned Khan
Pakistan‘s President Arif Alvi denounced the attack and conveyed his condolences to the families of those who were “martyred”. In a statement, he said “their sacrifices would not go to waste” and that such attacks cannot weaken the resolve of security forces.
Pakistan‘s caretaker Interior Minister Sarfraz Bugti denounced the onslaught in a statement, calling it an act of “terrorism.”
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa has witnessed a rise in violence with several deadly incursions by militants this year. In January, at least 101 people were killed, mostly police officers, when a suicide bomber disguised as a policeman attacked a mosque in the northwestern city of Peshawar.
The Pakistani Taliban have stepped up attacks on security forces since 2022. Authorities say the insurgents have become emboldened while living openly in Afghanistan since the Taliban takeover of that country in 2021.
The TTP, though a separate group, is closely allied with the Afghan Taliban.
Dera Ismail Khan is located near South Waziristan, a former sanctuary for militants. Pakistan’s military carried out a number of operations towards militants there after some attacked an army-run college, killing greater than 150 individuals, largely college youngsters, in 2014.
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Ahmed reported from Islamabad; Associated Press author Ishtiaq Mahsud contributed to this story from Dera Ismail Khan, Pakistan.
