car bomb claimed the lives of seven Pakistani soldiers on Sunday in the volatile Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, which borders Afghanistan, according to military sources.
The deadly incident occurred in the Lakki Marwat district, where an improvised explosive device (IED) detonated, killing six enlisted soldiers and one officer, the military reported. The explosion completely destroyed the vehicle, confirmed a senior police officer from Lakki Marwat, who spoke to AFP under the condition of anonymity. The officer also mentioned that the vehicle came under fire following the blast.
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, particularly Lakki Marwat, has long been a hotspot for Islamic militant activity, including groups such as the Pakistani Taliban (Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan, TTP) and a local chapter of the Islamic State. No group has yet claimed responsibility for this attack.
The TTP, the most active militant group in the region, frequently targets security forces. Attacks in Pakistan have surged since the Taliban's return to power in Afghanistan in August 2021. The Pakistan Institute for Conflict and Security Studies reported 29 suicide attacks in 2022, the highest since 2014, resulting in 329 fatalities.
Islamabad has accused the Afghan Taliban of harboring militants who launch attacks on Pakistani soil, a claim Kabul's new rulers deny. However, analysts note that the TTP and Afghan Taliban share ideological ties.
In recent incidents, the TTP was linked to a mosque suicide bombing in Peshawar in January 2023, which killed over 80 police officers. In September, Pakistan reported the deaths of four soldiers in a cross-border raid by TTP fighters in Chitral, a popular domestic tourist destination.
