Additional Coverage:
Peshawar, Pakistan – A suicide bombing at the Federal Constabulary’s regional headquarters in Peshawar on Monday tragically claimed the lives of at least three officers and left 12 individuals, including civilians, injured. The incident, which authorities are calling a “foiled terrorist plot,” unfolded in the northwest of the country.
The compound was rocked by two loud explosions around 8:10 a.m. local time. Officials initially reported five security personnel and seven civilians sustained injuries.
According to Peshawar Capital City Police Officer Mian Saeed Ahmad, three militants attempted to attack the headquarters. “One terrorist blew himself up at the gate, while two others tried to enter the premises but were gunned down by FC personnel,” Ahmad stated to reporters. He added that authorities were already on high alert due to the ongoing security situation in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, which borders Afghanistan and has been a frequent target of the Pakistan Taliban, also known as Tehrik-i Taliban Pakistan (TTP).
A TTP splinter group, Jamatul Ahrar, has claimed responsibility for the attack. Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif called for swift action, stating, “The perpetrators of this incident should be identified as soon as possible and brought to justice.”
The Federal Constabulary is a national paramilitary police force tasked with internal security, combating organized crime, and addressing drug production and trafficking.
This latest attack follows a car bombing two weeks prior in Islamabad, which killed 12 people and injured 36. Pakistan Defense Minister Khawaja Asim attributed that attack to the TTP and its backers in Afghanistan. The Pakistani government alleges that the Taliban regime in Kabul supports the TTP, which has been waging a campaign of violence against Shiite Muslims in Pakistan and targeting the Pakistani military and government in an effort to establish an Islamic state.
Tensions between Pakistan and Afghanistan escalated in early October after Pakistan conducted airstrikes on TTP targets in Kabul and other cities. The Taliban retaliated with deadly attacks along the border, resulting in the deaths of 23 soldiers and injuries to at least 29. Pakistan responded with retaliatory strikes, which officials claimed killed 200 Taliban-backed Afghan militants and destroyed terrorist training camps.
In September, an attack on an FC compound in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Bannu district, approximately 100 miles southwest of Peshawar, resulted in the deaths of six soldiers and five militants, whom authorities identified as belonging to the TTP.
The TTP is recognized as a foreign terror organization by the United States and Britain, among other nations.