In an assault on a military post in north-western Pakistan, militants unleashed a wave of terror in the town of Daraban, located just 60km from Dera Ismail Khan city in the volatile province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
The assailants executed a coordinated attack on a police station, employing both firearms and a suicide bomb. The attackers utilized a vehicle laden with explosives to breach the main gate of the police station before launching a deadly suicide bombing, causing the building to collapse and resulting in a minimum of 23 confirmed fatalities.
At least 34 individuals sustained injuries in the onslaught, receiving treatment at a military hospital in Dera Ismail Khan.
The Pakistani military, through its media branch, Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), responded, neutralizing six assailants and initiating sanitization operations to eradicate any lingering terrorist threats in the area.
The Tehreek-e-Jihad Pakistan (TJP), a group purporting ties to the Pakistani Taliban (TTP), claimed responsibility for the attack, explicitly targeting the Pakistani army. Dera Ismail Khan, once a stronghold of the TTP, has experienced a resurgence of violence, with the TTP seeking to topple the government and impose its rigid religious laws.
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa has witnessed a surge in violence, exemplified by multiple deadly attacks, including a January incident where a suicide bomber targeted a mosque in Peshawar, claiming the lives of at least 101 individuals.
Authorities attribute the escalating boldness of militants to their open presence in Afghanistan since the Taliban's takeover in 2021.