PESHAWAR: Militants rammed an explosives-laden vehicle into a joint police and customs checkpoint in northwestern Pakistan on Saturday, killing 12 people and injuring more than 30, police said, before two rescue workers were killed in a follow-up attack while transporting the wounded to hospital.

The attacks in Dera Ismail Khan district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province came amid heightened tensions between Pakistan and Afghanistan, with Islamabad carrying out strikes across the border this week after accusing Kabul of failing to act against militants it says operate from Afghan soil and launch attacks in Pakistan.

The Afghan Taliban deny the presence of armed groups on Afghan soil, saying militancy is Pakistan’s internal problem.

“The number of casualties has risen to 12 dead and over 30 injured,” Ziauddin Ahmed, the district police officer in Dera Ismail Khan, told Arab News by phone, referring to the checkpoint attack.

He said two women and a child were among those killed in the blast after the force of the explosion caused the wall of their house to collapse on them.

Ahmed also confirmed a follow-up attack targeting a rescue vehicle transporting the injured to hospital in Dera Ismail Khan.

Pakistan’s Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi condemned both attacks in a statement, denouncing the killing of two rescue workers when militants opened fire on the ambulance as it transported the wounded.

Earlier, Kaleem Khan, an official at Darazinda Police Station, said a heavy police contingent was rushed to the area after the checkpoint attack.

“Upon reaching the site, it was found that terrorists rammed an explosive-laden vehicle into the Aman Mela check post manned by police and customs,” he said.

Khan said those wounded in the attack had been shifted to Mufti Mehmood Hospital in the district, adding: “The death toll may rise as most of the injured are in critical condition.”

The Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), or Pakistani Taliban, claimed responsibility for the checkpoint attack.

“Police and security officials launched a search operation immediately after the incident to trace the perpetrators,” Khan said.

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Sohail Afridi condemned the checkpoint attack and said the province was facing a renewed wave of militant violence that was killing police, soldiers and civilians.

“We cannot carry any more coffins or watch any more blood being shed,” he said in a video statement. “A change in policy is absolutely necessary.”

Afridi said Khyber Pakhtunkhwa police were fighting militants on the front line and called for equipment, including armored personnel carriers, to be provided without further delay. He said the provincial government had increased the police budget to Rs191 billion ($689 million) for the 2026-27 fiscal year.

Pakistan has witnessed a sharp rise in militant attacks in recent years, particularly in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, where police and security forces have frequently been targeted.

Dera Ismail Khan, which lies near the former militant stronghold of South Waziristan, has previously been hit by militant violence.

Saturday’s attacks came amid a renewed escalation between Pakistan and Afghanistan over cross-border militancy.

Islamabad carried out airstrikes against what it described as militant hideouts in Afghanistan earlier this week following a deadly assault on a police compound in Kohat that killed 23 people, including 17 police personnel and six civilians.

Pakistan has also reported drone incursions from Afghanistan, while Pakistani and Afghan Taliban forces have exchanged fire along their border in recent days.

The TTP is separate from but ideologically aligned with the Afghan Taliban, which returned to power in Kabul in 2021.