- At least 11 killed and 30 injured in a suicide bombing at a police checkpoint in Pakistan
- The attack occurred in Dera Ismail Khan, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province
- Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan claimed responsibility for the bombing
At least 12 people were killed and 30 others wounded after a suicide bomber detonated an explosives-laden vehicle at a roadside police checkpoint in northwestern Pakistan on Saturday, police and rescue officials said. The attack happened in Dera Ismail Khan, which is a district in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
According to the police, two officials from the department of customs and excise were also among those who were killed. To determine the nature of the explosives used in the attack, the police dispatched bomb disposal teams to the site.
The injured and the dead have been taken to a nearby hospital where some of wounded are in a critical condition. Rescue teams from the Darazinda station reached the site of the incident and began relief operations, providing medical assistance to the wounded and taking them to hospital, the service said.
In a statement, the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan, also known as the Pakistani Taliban, has taken responsibility for the attack. The group is separate from but allied with the Afghani Taliban, which returned to power in Afghanistan in 2021.
Gunmen Attack Ambulance Attending Bombing Scene
Officials said that gunmen later opened fire on an ambulance attending the scene of a suicide bomb attack.
According to news agency AP, Bilal Faizi, a spokesman for the provincial emergency service. Local police chief Safdar Baloch said most of those killed and wounded were security personnel and passersby.
Security incidents such as these have been rife in the district this month, including attacks involving the Pakistani Taliban.
The attack comes a week after a similar incident when the assailant rammed an explosives-laden vehicle into the mosque in Kohat, a district in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province bordering Afghanistan. The attack left the outer wall of the police offices collapsed and the mosque badly damaged.
21 people were killed and 78 were injured after the bomb exploded inside the mosque. 15 police officers were among those killed as the attack happened near a building housing police offices.
