ISLAMABAD: Seven members of a local peace committee were shot dead on Friday when militants opened fire on their office in Pakistan’s northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, state media said quoting police, as the region faces a renewed surge in attacks near the Afghan border.

Peace committees, made up of tribal elders who publicly oppose militant groups like the Pakistani Taliban, or Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), have long been targeted by militants for cooperating with security forces in counterinsurgency operations. The groups were first formed during Pakistan’s 2007–2014 conflict years to help defend villages and report militant movements.

The latest attack took place in the Hoveed area of Bannu district.

“Unidentified terrorists have killed seven peace committee members in a fierce clash. The identity of victims could not be ascertained immediately,” state-run Associated Press of Pakistan reported, quoting police, who said a search operation was underway.

No group has claimed responsibility, though suspicion is likely to fall on the TTP, which has stepped up operations in KP since late 2021 after the Afghan Taliban group took power in Afghanistan.

Peace committees have accused militants of using local populations as cover during clashes with Pakistani forces, and their members have faced repeated assassinations in Bannu, Tank, North Waziristan, South Waziristan and other parts of KP province. 

Pakistan, meanwhile, blames the Afghan Taliban government for providing sanctuary to the TTP and allowing the group to plan attacks on its soil, a charge Kabul denies, insisting Pakistan must address its internal security challenges rather than externalizing blame.

Security officials say Bannu has become one of the hardest-hit districts in KP, witnessing jailbreaks, suicide bombings and targeted killings since the collapse of a short-lived ceasefire with the TTP in 2022.