DERA ISMAIL KHAN, PAKISTAN – The dawn of Tuesday brought tragedy to Dera Ismail Khan, a city in Pakistan’s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, when a suicide bomber detonated his vehicle laden with explosives at a local police station. The powerful blast claimed the lives of 23 officers and left 32 others wounded, with a portion of the building collapsing under the impact.
In the wake of the explosion, several militants unleashed a barrage of gunfire on the station, leading to an hours-long firefight with security forces. Three attackers were eventually neutralized, stated police officer Kamal Khan.
The severity of the attack has left many of the injured in critical condition, raising fears that the death toll may rise further. In response, a search operation has been launched in the nearby areas to capture the militants who managed to escape.
The province, once a stronghold of the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), witnessed this brutal attack claimed by a new militant group, Tehreek-e-Jihad Pakistan (TJP), believed to be an offshoot of TTP. The group stated that their target was the officers at the police station.
In recent times, the Daraban police station, where the attack took place, has seen a constant presence of security forces from across Pakistan. They have been conducting operations against militants in the area, backed by local police.
Pakistan’s caretaker Interior Minister Sarfraz Bugti condemned the attack, expressing his condolences to the families of the victims and labeling the incident as an act of “terrorism.” The province has seen a surge in violence, with numerous deadly attacks taking place this year, including a January attack in Peshawar that claimed the lives of 101 people, mostly policemen.
The Pakistani Taliban has been intensifying attacks on security forces since last year, emboldened by the Taliban’s takeover in Afghanistan in 2021. The TTP, though a distinct group, shares close affiliations with the Afghan Taliban.