ISLAMABAD: A wave of terrorist attacks across Khyber Pakhtunkhwa over the last 48 hours has left at least 23 people dead and dozens injured, with the deadliest incidents reported from LakkiMarwat and Bannu, where security officials said militants increasingly targeted soft civilian and police installations.
According to security and rescue sources, at least seven people, including two traffic police personnel and five civilians, were killed in a bomb explosion in the busy Sarai Naurang Bazaar area of Lakki Marwat on Monday. Multiple others sustained injuries and were shifted to Sarai Naurang Hospital for treatment. Officials said explosive material had been planted on a motorcycle parked in the market.
The attack came amid a string of coordinated militant incidents reported across the southern districts of the province. In another major assault, a suicide attack on Fateh Khel police station in Bannu left 15 police officials dead and three injured, with some personnel reportedly killed in the blast while others died after being trapped under debris following the explosion.
Security officials further confirmed that militants also destroyed the strategically important Lora Bridge on the Miranshah Road near Fateh Khel during the night using explosive material, disrupting road connectivity between North Waziristan and Bannu.
Meanwhile, in the inter-provincial border area between Kohat and Attock near Jand, a suicide bombing attempt was foiled after a resident intercepted a suspicious individual. Officials said the attacker detonated explosives during the confrontation, killing the civilian but preventing what authorities described as a potentially larger catastrophe.
Security officials linked the recent attacks to banned militant networks operating from across the border, claiming groups affiliated with Hafiz Gul Bahadur were attempting to intensify violence in border districts. Officials alleged that militants had shifted focus towards civilian and soft targets after facing sustained counterterrorism pressure.
Following the Lakki Marwat blast, security forces cordoned off the area and launched a search operation. Authorities said investigations into the incidents were underway.
Separately, officials also rejected what they described as “misleading propaganda” circulating on social media regarding a video from Sarai Naurang. According to security sources, the video was being falsely presented as showing locals asking security forces to leave the area.
Officials maintained that the footage was actually recorded when security personnel visited injured victims at the DHQ Hospital in Sarai Naurang after the blast. They claimed the original footage had been edited with a fake voice-over and shared out of context to spread misinformation, adding that residents had instead expressed solidarity and cooperation with security forces.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2026