The Pakistani Taliban on Saturday claimed responsibility for deadly attacks in several areas in northwestern that killed 20 security officials and three civilians.
The attacks, which included a suicide bombing on a police training school, were carried out on Friday in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, which borders .
The province is home to several armed groups, which have ramped up attacks on security forces since the return of the in neighboring Afghanistan in 2021.
What do we know?
The AFP news agency reported that 11 paramilitary troops were killed in an attack in the border Khyber district. Local media reported that the attack took place on Wednesday.
A senior local police official in Khyber told AFP that seven policemen were killed and 13 were injured on Friday night when a suicide bomber rammed an explosives-laden car into the gate of a police training school.
The facility is based in Ratta Kulachi, on the outskirts of Dera Ismail Khan city.
Police said the attackers used heavy weapons and tried to force their way into the compound following the suicide bombing.
“After the initial blast, the attackers managed to storm the facility, where about 200 recruits and their trainers were present,” Dera Ismail Khan police chief Sajjad Ahmad told The Associated Press.
The attack triggered a fierce firefight that lasted for nearly six hours, officials said.
Police and paramilitary units later cleared the compound, killing six militants and recovering suicide vests, explosives, weapons and ammunition, the statement added.
Meanwhile, in Bajaur district, five people, including three civilians, were killed in a separate clash between militants and paramilitary troops, security officials said.
Tehreek-e-Taliban behind most attacks in northwest
The Pakistani Taliban, the Tehreek-e-Taliban (TTP), claimed responsibility for the attacks in messages on social media.
TTP is separate from but closely linked with the Afghan Taliban and, along with its affiliates, the group is responsible for most of the violence in the province.
in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa since the withdrawal of US-led troops from neighboring Afghanistan in 2021 and the return of the Taliban government in Kabul.
Pakistan has repeatedly and has accused the Taliban of failing to expel militants who use Afghan territory to launch attacks on its neighbor.
“We will not tolerate this any longer,” Pakistan Defense Minister Khawaja Muhammad Asif told parliament on Thursday. “United, we must respond to those facilitating them, whether the hideouts are on our soil or Afghan soil.”
A report this year said the TTP “receive substantial logistical and operational support from the de facto authorities”, referring to the Taliban government.
Kabul denies backing militants
The Taliban has denied the allegations and on Friday, Kabul accused Pakistan of violating Afghan “sovereign territory,” a day after two explosions were heard in the capital.
Pakistan did not confirm whether it was behind the blasts in Kabul but said it had the right to defend itself against surging border militancy.
On Friday, the Pakistani army’s chief spokesman, Ahmad Sharif Chaudhry, admitted that “terrorism had surged since 2021,” sparking what he said were thousands of counterterrorism operations to neutralize the growing militant threat.
By mid-September, security forces had conducted over 10,000 operations, killing 970 militants, while 311 soldiers and 73 police officers were killed, Chaudhry said.
Edited by Sean Sinico
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