Suicide bomber and gunmen kill 11 soldiers and a child in northwestern Pakistan

ISLAMABAD (AP) — A suicide bomber backed by a group of gunmen rammed an explosives-laden vehicle into the wall of a security post after troops signaled for it to stop in a former Pakistani Taliban stronghold in northwestern Pakistan, causing part of the compound to collapse and killing 11 soldiers and a child, the military and police said Tuesday.

The military said in a statement that the attackers overnight had sought to breach the checkpoint but were thwarted by security forces. It said troops later pursued and killed 12 “khawarij,” a term authorities use for the Pakistani Taliban, or TTP.

It said the attack occurred Monday night in Bajaur, a district in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province along the Afghan border. The military said nearby civilian homes were also heavily damaged in the blast, killing a young girl and wounding seven other civilians, including women and children.

Local police official Zafar Khan said shortly after the suicide bombing, a group of militants tried to sneak into the security post. That triggered a shootout that killed 12 militants were killed, he said, adding a that a search was underway in Bajaur.

Tension has persisted in Bajaur since August 2025, when security forces launched a “targeted operation” against militants there, displacing tens of thousands of residents who later returned home, and intelligence-based operations have been ongoing there since then there.

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No group immediately claimed responsibility, but suspicion is likely to fall on the Pakistani Taliban, who often target security forces and civilians across the country.

Pakistan’s President Asif Ali Zadari and Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif in separate statements condemned the attack. They expressed sorrow over the “martyrdom” of security personnel and a civilian, and offered condolences to their families. Sharif reaffirmed the government’s resolve to eliminate terrorism and said the nation stands with its armed forces in the fight.

Pakistan has witnessed a surge in violence in recent years, most blamed on TTP. The group is separate from but closely allied with Afghanistan’s Taliban, who returned to power in 2021. The increase in attacks has strained relations between Islamabad and Kabul, as Pakistan accuses the TTP of operating freely inside Afghanistan, a charge both the TTP and Kabul deny.

In December, 2025, Pakistan’s army chief Asim Munir called on Afghanistan’s Taliban government to choose between maintaining ties with Islamabad or supporting the Pakistani Taliban, the militant group blamed for a surge in deadly attacks in recent years.

Gen. Asim Munir made his remarks at his headquarters in the garrison city of Rawalpindi, where he received a guard of honor from all three branches of the military, marking the launch of Pakistan’s new joint military command.

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Associated Press writers Anwarullah Khan in Khar, Pakistan, and Riaz Khan in Peshawar, Pakistan, contributed to this story.

Munir Ahmed, The Associated Press