A roadside bomb struck a district administration convoy in Khar Tehsil of Bajaur, north-western Pakistan, on Tuesday, killing at least five people, police said. The assistant commissioner for Nawagai subdivision, Faisal Ismail, a tehsildar, two police officers and a bystander died when an improvised explosive device detonated near Sadiqabad Phatak on Nawagai Road. The blast ripped through their government-issued pickup around 9:30 a.m. local time and was powerful enough to overturn the vehicle.
Authorities said 11 to 17 others, including five security personnel, were wounded and transferred to hospitals in Khar and the provincial capital Peshawar. Police cordoned off the area and recovered fragments that suggest the bomb was either planted at the roadside or attached to a motorcycle parked along the route. An investigation has been opened under District Police Officer Waqas Rafiq, with forensic teams collecting evidence from the scene.
Within hours of the attack, separate statements from channels linked to Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan and Islamic State Khorasan Province each claimed responsibility. The TTP said it detonated a land-mine, while ISKP asserted the device was a motorcycle bomb. Security officials have yet to verify either claim and have not ruled out the possibility of competing factions attempting to take credit.
President Asif Zardari and other national leaders condemned the bombing and vowed to press ahead with counter-terrorism operations in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, a province that has seen a surge in militant violence along the Afghan border in recent months. Tuesday’s attack follows a series of strikes on local officials and security forces in Bajaur, underscoring the persistent security challenges facing the region despite ongoing military and police campaigns.
Pakistan (🇵🇰): Now ISKP has claimed responsibility for carrying out a blast that targeted a government vehicle and killed the Assistant Commissioner of Nawagai, a tehsildar, and 3-4 security personnel, today in Bajaur district. The IED was planted on a motorcycle.
Pakistan (🇵🇰): A channel linked to the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) has claimed responsibility for today's IED attack targeting a government vehicle in Bajaur district.
TKD MONITORING:
Pakistani Taliban (TTP) and Islamic State Khorasan (ISKP) have both claimed today's attack in Bajaur.
The TTP has claimed that the group detonated a mine targeting the vehicle, while Islamic State's Amaq News Agency said that ISKP detonated a motorcycle bomb.
