Suicide blast kills 13 soldiers in Pakistan’s North Waziristan

A suicide bomber targeted a Bomb Disposal Unit in North Waziristan, killing 13 security personnel and injuring 24, including civilians. The Usud al-Harb group claimed responsibility. This marks one of the deadliest recent attacks in Pakistan’s troubled northwest.

Peshawar: At least 13 security personnel were killed and 24 others injured in a suicide attack on Saturday in Pakistan’s northwest Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, security sources said.

A suicide bomber rammed an explosives-laden vehicle into a Mine-Resistant Ambush Protected (MRAP) vehicle belonging to the Bomb Disposal Unit early this morning in Khaddi village in the Mir Ali area of North Waziristan, the sources added.

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Among the 24 injured are 14 civilians, including women and children, with several said to be in critical condition.

A curfew was imposed in the area at the time of the incident due to ongoing military movement, sources said.

Security agencies launched a rescue operation following the explosion.

The militant group Usud al-Harb, a sub-faction of the Hafiz Gul Bahadur group, has claimed responsibility for the attack, they added.

Chief Minister of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Ali Amin Gandapur, has strongly condemned the suicide attack.

“We salute the brave security personnel and their families who have sacrificed their lives for the nation,” said the chief minister.

This incident is being described as one of the deadliest in North Waziristan in recent months and has raised serious concerns about the security situation in the region.

Pakistan has witnessed a surge in terrorist incidents, particularly in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan provinces, following the collapse of the ceasefire agreement between the government and the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan in November 2022.

Militant attacks and counter-terrorism operations surged in March 2025, with the number of terrorist incidents crossing 100 for the first time since November 2014, a Pakistan Institute for Conflict and Security Studies report said.

Pakistan ranked second on the Global Terrorism Index 2025, with terror-related deaths rising by 45 per cent over the past year to 1,081.