Pakistan: 9 paramilitary officers killed in TTP suicide attack on security compound near Afghan border

At least nine paramilitary officers were killed after militants launched a deadly assault on a security compound in northwest Pakistan using an explosives-laden truck and heavy gunfire, officials said on Friday.

The attack took place on Thursday in Bajaur, a volatile district bordering Afghanistan that has seen a sharp rise in militant violence in recent days.

A senior security official in Peshawar said nine security personnel and 10 militants were killed after the attackers rammed an explosives-filled vehicle into the compound’s main gate before storming the site.

The attackers later fled following a prolonged gunbattle with security forces. At least 35 security personnel were injured in the assault, the official added. Another senior government official in Bajaur confirmed the casualty figures.

More from World

The Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan claimed responsibility for the attack.

In a separate incident in Bajaur’s Inayat Killi area, three security personnel were wounded after a mortar shell struck another Frontier Corps camp, officials said.

The latest violence comes days after a car bomb attack in Bannu’s Fateh Khel area killed 15 people on Sunday, while a mortar attack on a market in Hangu district’s Thall area on May 7 left six dead.

Pakistan has repeatedly accused Afghanistan of providing safe havens to militant groups, an allegation denied by Kabul. Relations between the two neighbours have deteriorated in recent months, with tensions escalating into cross-border clashes and Pakistani airstrikes killing a lot of civilains inside Afghanistan.

Although tensions have eased somewhat, sporadic fighting continues along the border, and no formal ceasefire has been announced.

The Pakistan Taliban, also known as the TTP, is separate from the Afghan Taliban, though the two groups are often viewed as ideologically aligned. The TTP and allied militant outfits have carried out several similar attacks in the past.

The latest assault has once again drawn attention to Pakistan’s long-standing struggle with militancy. Analysts have frequently argued that the country’s security establishment cultivated extremist groups for strategic purposes over decades, a policy that has increasingly fuelled instability within Pakistan itself.

Pakistan has also faced criticism over human rights concerns, particularly in Balochistan, where rights groups have documented allegations of enforced disappearances, arbitrary detentions and extrajudicial killings linked to security operations.

With inputs from AFP