PESHAWAR: A powerful roadside bomb struck a police vehicle in a former stronghold of the Pakistani Taliban in the restive northwest of Pakistan bordering Afghanistan on Wednesday, killing at least two officers and wounding 14 others, mostly passersby, officials said.
The attack took place in the city of Wana in South Waziristan, a district in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, according to local police chief Adam Khan.
Militant violence has surged in recent weeks, claiming the lives of dozens of security personnel.
Pakistan is also preparing for a military operation in Bajur, another northwestern district, where elders are in talks with the government and insurgents to avoid violence. Previous such operations years ago displaced thousands of residents.
No group immediately claimed responsibility for the attack on police, but suspicion is likely to fall on the Pakistani Taliban, or Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan, known as TTP. The group frequently targets security forces and civilians across the region.
TTP is a close ally of the Afghan Taliban, who returned to power in neighboring Afghanistan in August 2021 following the withdrawal of US and NATO forces after two decades of war.
Since then, many TTP fighters and leaders have found refuge in Afghanistan, with some living openly under Taliban rule — a development that has emboldened the group in Pakistan.
A roadside bomb targeting police vehicle in northwest Pakistan kills 2 officers and wounds 14
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A roadside bomb targeting police vehicle in northwest Pakistan kills 2 officers and wounds 14
- Police in Pakistan say a roadside bomb struck a police vehicle in a former stronghold of the Pakistani Taliban in the restive northwest bordering Afghanistan
Pakistan, Afghanistan exchange heavy fire along border, officials say
- Mujahid said Pakistani forces launched attacks in Spin Boldak district of Kandahar province
- “Pakistan remains fully alert and committed to ensuring its territorial integrity and the safety of our citizens,” Zaidi said
KABUL: Pakistan and Afghanistan exchanged heavy fire along their border late on Friday, officials from both countries said, amid heightened tensions following failed peace talks earlier this week.
There were no immediate reports of casualties.
Afghan Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said Pakistani forces launched attacks in Spin Boldak district of Kandahar province. A spokesman for Pakistan’s Prime Minister accused Afghan forces of “unprovoked firing” along the Chaman border.
“Pakistan remains fully alert and committed to ensuring its territorial integrity and the safety of our citizens,” spokesman Mosharraf Zaidi said in a statement.
The exchange came two days after a new round of peace talks between the South Asian neighbors
ended without a breakthrough, though both sides agreed to continue their fragile ceasefire.
The talks in Saudi Arabia last weekend were the latest in a series of meetings hosted by Qatar, Turkiye and Saudi Arabia aimed at cooling tensions following deadly border clashes in October.
At the heart of the dispute, Islamabad says Afghan-based militants have carried out recent attacks in Pakistan, including suicide bombings involving Afghan nationals. Kabul denies the charge, saying it cannot be held responsible for security inside Pakistan.
Dozens were killed in October’s clashes, the worst violence on the border since the Taliban took power in Afghanistan in 2021.
