PESHAWAR: A suicide bomber targeted a security check post in Pakistan’s northwestern district of North Waziristan on Friday, killing at least one civilian and wounding 16 others, police and hospital officials said, as the military said its forces had killed 15 militants in separate operations in the southwestern province of Balochistan.
The vehicle-borne suicide bomber struck the Chashma Sarband check post on the Bannu–Miran Shah road in Miran Shah, the main town in the restive tribal North Waziristan district bordering Afghanistan, police said.
The blast comes amid a resurgence of militant attacks in Pakistan’s northwestern border regions and growing tensions with neighboring Afghanistan, where Islamabad says terror groups responsible for violence in Pakistan are based. Kabul denies this.
“Sixteen civilians were among those wounded, four of whom were in critical condition,” said Dr. Asif Iqbal, the medical superintendent at the district headquarters hospital in Miran Shah.
“One person has died at the hospital,” he said, adding that more injured victims were expected to be brought in.
Police spokesman Fazal Khan said the suicide attack targeted the security checkpoint along the busy highway.
Two members of the security forces were also wounded in the explosion, he said.
Chief Minister of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Sohail Afridi directed officials to ensure the best possible medical treatment for the injured and said emergency services and hospital staff had been placed on high alert.
“Cowardly acts of terrorism cannot weaken the resolve of the government and the public,” he added.
Pakistan has witnessed a rise in militant violence in recent months, particularly in regions bordering Afghanistan, where officials say groups such as the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), also known as the Pakistani Taliban, operate from bases across the frontier.
Islamabad accuses Afghanistan’s Taliban authorities of sheltering militants who carry out attacks inside Pakistan, a charge Kabul denies.
The tensions have escalated further after Pakistan launched air strikes inside Afghanistan last week targeting what it described as militant camps, triggering cross-border clashes between the two neighbors and prompting Islamabad to expand military operations along the frontier.
Pakistan says the campaign, dubbed “Ghazab Lil Haq,” will continue until militant threats from across the border are neutralized.
Separately, Pakistan’s military said on Saturday security forces had killed 15 militants in two intelligence-based operations in Balochistan.
“On 05 March 2025, fifteen terrorists belonging to Indian proxy, Fitna al Khwarij and Fitna al Hindustan, were killed in two separate operations in Balochistan,” the military’s media wing, Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), said in a statement, referring to militants it accuses New Delhi of backing. India rejects the charge.
A first intelligence-based operation was conducted in Harnai district where security forces engaged a militant hideout.
“During the conduct of operation, own troops effectively engaged the Khwarij Hideout and after an intense engagement, twelve Indian sponsored Khwarij were sent to hell,” the statement said.
Another operation was conducted in Basima district in which the army said “three Indian sponsored terrorists were sent to hell.”
The military said weapons, ammunition and explosives were recovered from the militants.
