TTP suicide blast at Pakistan checkpost kills 13, flattens nearby house

At least 13 people, including two women and two children, were killed and 30 others injured when an explosives-laden vehicle rammed into a police checkpost in northwest Pakistan on Saturday, officials said. The banned Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) claimed responsibility for the attack.

The blast took place in Darazinda tehsil of Dera Ismail Khan district, near the border of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan, according to Pakistan's national emergency response service Rescue 1122. The attack destroyed a large part of the checkpost and also completely demolished a nearby house.

Regional Police Officer Khan Mubashir Malik said a suicide bomber drove a tractor-trolley loaded with explosives into the joint police and customs checkpost in the Aman Mela area. The checkpost had been set up to curb smuggling and check the illegal movement of goods along the Dera Ismail Khan-Quetta road.

A security officer said those killed included the suicide bomber, six excise and customs department officials, two policemen, two women and two children. Four people were killed in the nearby house that was brought down in the blast. The injured were taken to the District Headquarters Hospital for treatment, and the bodies were also shifted there.

Police said bomb disposal teams were sent to the site to determine the nature of the explosives used in the attack. Security forces cordoned off the area and launched a search operation, while further investigation was under way.

President Asif Ali Zardari condemned the blast in a statement issued by his office and expressed grief over the casualties. Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Governor Faisal Karim Kundi also condemned the attack and sought a report from the concerned officials, while Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi expressed condolences to the bereaved families. "The cowardly acts of khwarjis cannot weaken the nation's firm resolve against terrorism," Naqvi said. The federal government uses the term Fitna al Khwarij instead of the TTP.

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa has faced recurring unrest over the years driven by militant violence, cross-border movement of fighters from Afghanistan and repeated military operations. Since its ceasefire deal with the Pakistani government ended in November 2022, the TTP has carried out repeated attacks in the province bordering Afghanistan.