In Pakistan’s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa region, a suicide bomber blew up his car full of explosives at the main gate of a police station, killing at least four security officials and injuring twenty-four others. There was still a gunfight going on between the security personnel and some terrorists who had also started firing. The incident has been attributed to the Pakistani Taliban organization.
After the terrorists crashed a car packed with explosives into the police station, a mortar strike was launched According to police officer Kamal Khan, who was cited by the Associated Press, some militants also started shooting, and there was still a gunfight between them and security personnel.
Two terrorists were also shot and killed by the police during the gunfire. According to Police Officer Kamal Khan, the incident happened in Dera Ismail Khan, a city in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa area bordering Afghanistan. The region was formerly a bastion of Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan, a terrorist branch of the Pakistani Taliban.
However, there have been violent incidents in the province before. Khyber Pakhtunkhwa has seen an increase in violence, including many fatal assaults. Earlier in January 2023, a suicide bomber attacked a Peshawar mosque, killing at least 101 people.
Although no one took credit for the incident right after, the Pakistani Taliban are probably to blame because they have increased their attacks on security forces since 2022. According to authorities, after the Taliban took control of Afghanistan in 2021, the rebels have become more confident and are living there openly. Even though it is a different organization, the TTP and the Afghan Taliban are close allies.
South Waziristan, a longtime haven for militants, is not far from Dera Ismail Khan. The army of Pakistan conducted many operations against terrorists in the country after they assaulted an army-run school in 2014, killing over 150 people, most of them students.
