PESHAWAR: At least 13 security officials were killed and 24 people injured in a devastating suicide bombing that targeted a security convoy in Pakistan’s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province on Saturday. The attack, which took place in the Mir Ali area of North Waziristan district, has been claimed by a faction of the Pakistani Taliban, the Hafiz Gul Bahadur group.
According to security sources, a suicide bomber rammed an explosives-laden vehicle into a Mine-Resistant Ambush Protected (MRAP) vehicle belonging to the Bomb Disposal Unit early Saturday morning. The powerful blast also injured 14 civilians, including women and children, with several reported to be in critical condition. A curfew had been imposed in the area at the time of the incident due to ongoing military movement.
Shortly after the attack, Pakistan’s Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) issued a statement that controversially blamed India for the suicide bombing, accusing its neighbor of sponsoring terrorism. However, India’s Ministry of External Affairs swiftly and strongly rejected these allegations, dismissing the statement “with the contempt it deserves.”
The Hafiz Gul Bahadur group, a sub-faction aligned with the Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), later claimed responsibility for the attack. This incident marks one of the deadliest in North Waziristan in recent months, raising serious concerns about the deteriorating security situation in the region, which borders Afghanistan. Pakistan has witnessed a sharp surge in militant attacks since the Taliban’s return to power in Afghanistan in 2021, with Islamabad frequently accusing Kabul of sheltering militants responsible for cross-border assaults.
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