Thirteen people were killed and 37 were injured in an attack on a police checkpoint in northern Pakistan. The attack took place on September 26 at around 12:00 local time in Dera Ismail Khan district, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province.
A suicide bomber drove a tractor with a trailer loaded with explosives into the Aman Mela checkpoint. The explosion killed 12 people – a child, two women and nine men – and injured 35. The explosion completely destroyed the checkpoint and a neighboring residential building.
After the explosion, armed attackers opened fire on an ambulance carrying the bodies of the victims. One rescuer was killed and two of his colleagues were injured in the attack. This brings the total number of victims to 13 and the number of injured to 37.
Around 25 emergency services personnel, 10 ambulances and a fire truck participated in the rescue operation. Some of the injured were transported to hospitals in the area for treatment.
Pakistani Taliban claims responsibility
The Pakistani Taliban group Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan has claimed responsibility for the attack. The militants' claim has not been independently confirmed. Pakistani authorities have designated the organization as terrorist.
President Asif Ali Zardari condemned the attack and said it was unacceptable for terrorists to target innocent citizens and security forces.
Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi said that “the cowardly acts of terrorists will not shake the nation's firm resolve to fight terrorism“.
New attack in troubled province
The attack is the latest serious assault in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa. In May, an attack on a passenger train carrying military personnel killed at least 24 people and injured 70.
In early September, a blast and gun attack on a police station in the city of Kohat killed at least 31 people, including 16 police officers.
Dera Ismail Khan district was also the target of a major attack in December 2023. Then a suicide bomber blew up a car in front of the main entrance of a police station, killing at least 23 security personnel. The Tehreek-e-Jihad Pakistan group, considered an offshoot of the Pakistani Taliban, claimed responsibility for the attack.
Sources: Telegraph, Dawn