Bombing kills at least 12 in northwest Pakistan, police say

Al Jazeera

04-03-2025

At least 12 people have been killed after a bombing attack at a security instillation in Pakistan's northwestern border province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, police and a hospital official said.
Two attackers rammed two explosive-laden vehicles into the wall of the compound in Bannu and other attackers stormed the site before being repelled, a security official who requested anonymity told The Associated Press news agency.
Muhammad Noman, a spokesman for Bannu District Hospital, said 12 people were killed and 30 wounded in the attack, adding they were all civilians who had been caught under collapsed buildings and walls.
At least seven children were among those killed, a hospital list showed.
A group affiliated with the Pakistan Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack and said that dozens of members of Pakistani security forces were killed. There was no immediate comment from the military regarding any casualties.
A police official speaking on condition of anonymity told the news agency AFP that six attackers were killed in an 'exchange of fire' after the attack.
The blasts, he said, had created 'two four-foot craters' and were so strong that at least eight houses in the area were left damaged.
Jaish al-Fursan claimed responsibility for the attack, the third assault in Pakistan since Ramadan started Sunday. In a statement, the group said the source of the blasts were explosive-laden vehicles.
Ali Amin Gandapur, chief minister for Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, condemned the incident and said he had sought a report from senior police officials on the blast.
The attack comes days after a suicide bomber killed six people at an Islamic religious school in Pakistan, attended by key Taliban leaders in the same province.
Last year was the deadliest in a decade for Pakistan, with a surge in attacks that killed more than 1,600 people, according to Islamabad-based analysis group the Center for Research and Security Studies.
Islamabad accuses Kabul's rulers of failing to root out fighters sheltering on Afghan soil as they prepare to stage assaults on Pakistan, a charge the Taliban government denies.