Published : 27 Sep 2026, 10:00 AM
Updated : 27 Sep 2026, 10:00 AM
At least 12 people have been killed and around 35 injured after a suicide bomber attacked a police checkpoint in northwestern Pakistan, with gunmen later opening fire on an ambulance carrying victims of the blast to a hospital, officials said.
The ambulance attack killed a rescue worker and injured two others, Nikkei Asia reports citing officials.
The bombing took place on Saturday in Dera Ismail Khan district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, where an explosives-laden vehicle was detonated at a roadside police checkpoint, said Bilal Faizi, a spokesman for the provincial emergency service.
Local police chief Safdar Baloch said most of those killed and injured were security personnel and passersby.
The blast destroyed the checkpoint, while witnesses reported hearing gunfire after the explosion.
Faizi said two women and a child were among those killed in the bombing.
The Pakistani Taliban, also known as Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), claimed responsibility for the attack.
Pakistan has experienced an increase in militant violence in recent years, with many attacks claimed by the TTP and the Baloch Liberation Army, a separatist group mainly active in neighbouring Balochistan province.
The TTP is a separate organisation from Afghanistan's Taliban but is closely allied with it. The Afghan Taliban returned to power in Afghanistan in 2021.
Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif condemned the attack and expressed condolences to the families of those killed.
Zardari described attacks targeting civilians and law enforcement personnel as “highly condemnable” and called for stronger action against the TTP. He accused the group of carrying out “heinous and brutal acts” with foreign support.
Pakistani authorities have repeatedly accused Afghanistan's Taliban government of allowing TTP members to operate from Afghan territory and have urged Kabul to prevent cross-border attacks. Afghan authorities deny allowing their territory to be used for attacks against other countries.
The bombing came two days after clashes along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border left at least 13 Afghan Taliban fighters dead, according to Pakistan's government.
The fighting followed Pakistani strikes earlier in the week on what Islamabad said were suspected militant hideouts inside Afghanistan.
The renewed hostilities have complicated mediation efforts by China, Turkey, Qatar and Saudi Arabia aimed at easing tensions and securing a lasting peace between the two neighbouring countries.
Dera Ismail Khan lies near South Waziristan, a former militant stronghold where Pakistan's military has carried out several operations in recent years.
Security forces are frequently targeted by militants in the region.
In December 2023, a suicide bomber detonated an explosives-laden vehicle at the main gate of a police station in Dera Ismail Khan, killing at least 23 security personnel. Tehreek-e-Jihad Pakistan, a small militant group believed to be an offshoot of the TTP, claimed responsibility for that attack.
