Islamabad summoned the Afghan chargé d’affaires on Monday and handed over a formal protest that accused the Taliban government of sheltering the planners of a suicide assault that killed 15 police officers over the weekend. The attack, in the Bannu district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, began late Saturday when a suicide bomber rammed an explosives-laden vehicle into a security post, followed by a gunfire exchange that brought down part of the building, according to local police. Some officers died in the shootout and others were trapped under debris; four were wounded.
Pakistan’s Foreign Ministry said a “detailed investigation, along with evidence collected and technical intelligence” pointed to the attack being “masterminded by terrorists residing in Afghanistan.” The ministry’s statement reiterated Pakistan’s longstanding accusation that the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) operates from Afghan soil with the Taliban government’s tacit permission. It also warned that Islamabad “reserves the right to respond decisively against the perpetrators of this barbaric act.”
A newly formed splinter group, Ittehad-ul-Mujahideen Pakistan, claimed responsibility for the assault, but Islamabad dismissed the claim, calling the group a front for the Pakistani Taliban. The Afghan Taliban government has persistently denied harboring militants and did not immediately issue a response to Monday’s protest.
On the same day, a separate incident unfolded in the remote village of Jand. A civilian, Mohammad Liaquat, noticed a man walking from a farm field toward a nearby security post and questioned him because the stranger was not a local resident. Local police official Mohammad Sabir said the suspected militant detonated his explosives in panic after being confronted. The blast killed Liaquat but Sabir suggested the early discovery likely prevented a more devastating attack on the security post. Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi honored Liaquat, saying, “Liaquat sacrificed his life to save others, and he is our hero.”
Pakistan has experienced a surge in militant violence in recent years, much of it attributed to the TTP. Cross-border tensions between Islamabad and Kabul have flared since late February, resulting in clashes that have killed hundreds. China brokered talks between the two sides in early April, and while that has modestly reduced the intensity of fighting, sporadic confrontations have continued in the weeks since.