Suicide Bomber Kills 12 at Anti-Smuggling Checkpoint in Dera Ismail Khan

A suicide bomber rammed an explosives-laden vehicle into a joint anti-smuggling checkpoint in Dera Ismail Khan on Saturday, September 26, killing at least 12 people and wounding 35, according to police. Early reports put the toll at 11.

What happened

The attacker struck the Aman Mela checkpost near Darazinda, on the Dera Ismail Khan-Quetta route close to the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa-Balochistan boundary. Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Inspector General of Police Zulfikar Hameed said the blast hit a "joint checkpoint established for anti-smuggling operations," and that police, security forces and Counter-Terrorism Department teams rushed to the site, cordoned it off and began a search and clearance operation, The Express Tribune reported. Radio Pakistan described the weapon as a vehicle-borne improvised explosive device.

Who was killed

Accounts of the dead differed. Regional Police Officer Ghulam Mubashir Maken said nine men, two women and a child were killed, including one customs official, and that no army or police personnel were among the dead, according to The Express Tribune. Pakistan Customs said 15 personnel of Customs, Excise and Police were killed. ARY News, citing unnamed sources on the day, reported six police personnel and two customs officials among 11 dead. Minute Mirror reported on September 28 that police and rescue officials had confirmed the toll of 12.

In a separate incident, a Rescue 1122 ambulance carrying victims from the site was fired on. Rescue worker Sharifullah was killed and two colleagues were critically injured. One of them, Imtiaz, later died, according to Minute Mirror.

Who claimed it

The Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) claimed responsibility for the attack, Reuters reported, as cited by The Express Tribune. Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Governor Faisal Karim Kundi, in a statement seeking a report from senior officials, called the attack "a nefarious conspiracy by Fitna al-Hindustan" and described the firing on Rescue 1122 personnel as "the height of brutality."

The wider security context

The bombing came in the same month as Pakistan's airstrikes in Afghanistan's Khost province and cross-border clashes with Afghan Taliban forces in Kurram. Elsewhere, authorities were preparing for PTI's planned long march, while security forces in Balochistan continued operations against separatist militants.

Build Better Pakistan's Security Desk covers militancy, counter-terrorism operations and the security situation along Pakistan's western border.