Several people were killed and up to sixteen injured on Monday following a powerful bomb blast outside the office of a pro-government peace committee in Wana, the main city of South Waziristan district in Pakistan's Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province. The casualty numbers would rise as several blast victims are in a very critical condition.

The explosion was so severe that it destroyed part of the peace committee's building, trapping several individuals under the debris. Rescue teams and local residents responded quickly, retrieving the injured and transferring them to a nearby hospital, where some remain in critical condition.

The peace committee targeted by the blast is known for publicly opposing the Pakistani Taliban (Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan, TTP) and for mediating local disputes. No group has yet claimed responsibility for the attack, but suspicion has fallen on the TTP, which frequently targets security forces and organisations aligned with the Pakistani state.

The bombing occurred just a day after the Pakistani military reported killing 54 militants in neighbouring North Waziristan, following an attempted cross-border incursion from Afghanistan, and an additional 17 militants were killed in subsequent operations.

Authorities have cordoned off the area and launched an investigation, collecting evidence from the scene and examining various leads to identify those responsible. The incident comes amid a broader surge in terrorist attacks in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan provinces since the collapse of a ceasefire agreement with the TTP in late 2022. South Waziristan, where the blast took place, is historically a stronghold and birthplace of the TTP.

Pakistan’s President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif have condemned the attack and commended security forces for their ongoing counter-terrorism operations in the region.

The recent escalation in violence highlights the persistent threat posed by militant groups operating along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border, many of whom are believed to have found sanctuary in Afghanistan since the Taliban’s return to power there in 2021.

Agencies