A ferocious suicide bombing at a joint security checkpoint in Bajaur, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, has left 11 Pakistani security members dead, highlighting the persistent threat from militants along the Afghan border. Military spokespersons detailed the February 16 carnage, where a vehicle packed with explosives targeted a Frontier Corps facility.
The post, repurposed from a derelict religious seminary, was flattened in the immense blast. Rescue teams, aided by locals in pitch-black conditions, sifted through wreckage to recover the fallen. Nearby, the explosion fatally struck a child and gravely injured three residents, damaging a swath of neighboring properties.
Casualty figures could escalate, officials cautioned, as night-time videos online depict frantic community-led extractions.
Pakistan faces an onslaught of such barbarity lately. Islamabad’s mosque suffered a massacre mere days ago. Bannu’s Miryan station vicinity rang with a motorcycle bomb on Monday, slaying two civilians—a child among them—and maiming 14. Police dodged harm, but civilians didn’t.
February 7 brought twin police ambushes in Bannu, wounding two. The PIPS 2025 report lays bare the crisis: 699 attacks, 34% more than 2024; 1,034 dead (up 21%), 1,366 hurt. Conflict incidents ballooned to 1,124—a 43% surge—over five years of worsening strife.
This pattern demands urgent counter-measures, from enhanced patrols to disrupting terror financing, to safeguard lives and restore order in vulnerable frontiers.