KABUL, AFGHANISTAN – At least 12 people were killed and 35 others injured on Saturday after a vehicle laden with explosives was rammed into the Aman Mela police checkpost in Darazinda tehsil of Dera Ismail Khan in Pakistan’s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, Pakistani officials said.
Dera Ismail Khan Regional Police Officer Ghulam Mubashir Maken, citing an initial assessment, confirmed the casualties and said no law enforcement or security personnel were among those killed. The dead included a Customs official and civilians — nine men, two women and a minor.
The Aman Mela checkpost is located near Mughal Kot and Darazinda along the Dera Ismail Khan–Quetta Road and is used by police for security and inspections. The area is close to the border between Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan.
Of those injured, 25 were taken to the district headquarters hospital, according to RPO Maken.
In a separate development, two Rescue 1122 workers were killed and another seriously injured when an ambulance carrying bodies recovered from the blast site came under fire from unidentified assailants near Aman Mela.
The two deceased rescue workers were identified as Sharifullah and Imtiaz, while another worker, Anees, was injured in the attack, according to a Rescue 1122 spokesperson. The injured worker was taken to hospital for treatment.
Pakistan attributed the attack on the ambulance to what it called “Fitna al Khawarij,” a term used by the Pakistani state to refer to the banned Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP). Radio Pakistan reported that security forces were conducting an operation in the area, although no independent confirmation of the attribution was immediately available.
No group has publicly claimed responsibility for the main suicide bombing at the Aman Mela checkpoint.
The attack comes amid heightened militant violence in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and growing tensions between Pakistan and Afghanistan. Pakistani authorities have repeatedly accused the TTP of using bases in Afghanistan to plan and carry out attacks in Pakistan, allegations that Taliban authorities in Afghanistan have rejected.
The latest incident comes amid a broader escalation in tensions between Pakistan and Afghanistan, marked by deadly militant attacks in Pakistan and a series of cross-border military exchanges. Pakistan has carried out strikes against alleged militant targets inside Afghanistan, while Taliban authorities have accused Pakistan of targeting Afghan territory and civilians.
The two sides continue to dispute allegations that armed groups operate from each other’s territory, with militancy, border security and cross-border attacks remaining major points of contention.
Amid the heightened tensions, sources in the Afghan provinces of Paktia and Khost said Pakistani drones had been flying over the two provinces since Friday morning, September 25, prompting Taliban forces to fire heavy weapons at them. The Taliban’s police command in Khost said in a statement that Pakistani drones were conducting surveillance flights over the province and that its forces were firing at the aircraft. The statement urged residents not to be concerned, saying the gunfire was directed at the drones.
In Paktia, a local source said Pakistani drones had been repeatedly flying over areas around the provincial capital, Gardez, since Friday morning, including over the 203rd Mansouri Corps compound and several other military facilities in the city. The reported drone flights and exchanges of fire come amid the latest round of cross-border tensions, following Pakistan’s recent strikes inside Afghanistan and adding to concerns about further escalation between the two sides.
