Suicide bomber strikes Bannu police post as gun battle kills 3 officers in northwest Pakistan

At least three police officers were killed after a car bombing and subsequent firefight struck a police post in Pakistan’s northwestern district of Bannu late on Saturday, according to police officials.

The attack took place in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, near the Afghan border, when a suicide bomber and several armed fighters targeted a security checkpoint using an explosives-filled vehicle.

Police official Zahid Khan told The Associated Press that the attackers detonated the vehicle close to ..., causing multiple explosions. He said the force of the blast caused the
security post to collapse.

Civilians injured as fighting continues

According to Pakistan’s Dawn newspaper, nearby civilian areas suffered heavy damage from the explosions, with two civilians injured in the attack. Reuters, citing security officials, reported that police personnel rushing to the scene for reinforcement were later ambushed. Police official Sajjad Khan told Reuters that authorities feared the death toll could rise further. He added that clashes were still continuing and the full scale of the destruction would only become clear once the operation ended.

Drones were also used by the attackers during the assault, according to police sources quoted by Reuters.

Ambulances from rescue services and government hospitals were sent to the area, while officials declared a state of emergency in public hospitals across Bannu.

Border tensions remain fragile

No group immediately claimed responsibility for the attack, though similar assaults have previously been linked to armed groups operating near the
Pakistan-Afghanistan border.

The incident comes months after some of the worst fighting in years erupted between Pakistan and Afghanistan following Pakistani air strikes inside Afghanistan in February. Islamabad said the strikes targeted fighter strongholds.

Although tensions have since eased, occasional clashes continue along the border, and no formal ceasefire has been reached.

Pakistan has repeatedly accused Kabul of sheltering armed groups that plan attacks from Afghan territory. The Taliban administration has rejected those accusations, saying militancy inside Pakistan is a domestic issue.

Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and allied groups have carried out comparable attacks in the past. The Pakistan Taliban is separate from the Afghan Taliban, though the two groups are often considered aligned.