11 dead, 30 hurt in suicide bomb blast near police post in northwestern Pakistan

DERA ISMAIL KHAN, Pakistan (AP) — A bomb-laden vehicle targeted a police checkpoint in northwestern Pakistan on Saturday, resulting in at least 11 fatalities and roughly 30 injuries, according to police and rescue officials. The incident unfolded in Dera Ismail Khan, a district situated in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, informed Bilal Faizi, a spokesperson for the provincial emergency service.

Police reported that the injured victims are being transported to a local hospital, with some individuals in dire condition. The Pakistani Taliban, also known as Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan, or TTP, asserted responsibility for the assault in a subsequent statement. Pakistan has grappled with a surge in militant attacks in recent years, many of which have been attributed to the TTP and the outlawed Baloch Liberation Army, a separatist faction primarily active in the neighboring Balochistan province.

It is noteworthy that the TTP, while distinct, shares an alliance with the Afghan Taliban, which regained control in Afghanistan in 2021.