Attack on checkpoint in Pakistan claims 15 security forces lives
Attack on checkpoint in Tank district killed 12 soldiers, two police officers, and one forestry service official. Pakistani army blames Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan for the attack.
Attack on checkpoint in Tank district killed 12 soldiers, two police officers, and one forestry service official. Pakistani army blames Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan for the attack.
Fifteen members of Pakistani security forces were killed on Friday, July 24, 2026, in a suicide bomber attack on a joint police checkpoint in Tank district, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, northwestern Pakistan, the military's media wing Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) reported.
According to an ISPR statement, attackers attempted to breach the checkpoint perimeter in the early morning hours, but security forces repelled the attempt. Militants then rammed a vehicle laden with explosives into the outer wall of the facility, triggering a powerful blast that severely damaged infrastructure.
"Fifteen brave sons of the homeland, including twelve soldiers, two police officers, and one forestry service official, made the ultimate sacrifice and became martyrs (shuhada),"the military's public relations office said in a statement carried by Index.hr. ISPR also stated that security forces eliminated 15 terrorists while repelling the attack, but Dutch broadcaster NOS, citing its own sources, reported 12 militants killed. The total casualty count from the attack and subsequent clash varies depending on the source.
The Pakistani army blames Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) for the attack, referring to the group in official ISPR statements as "Fitna-al-Khawarij." There is disagreement among sources regarding the claim of responsibility: Index.hr reports that TTP has not officially claimed responsibility yet, while NOS reports that a local Taliban group has claimed the attack. Pakistani media outlet Dawn directly attributes the attack to TTP but does not include a claim of responsibility statement. ISPR confirmed that a sanitization operation is underway to locate any remaining terrorists in the area.
TTP is an organization separate from the Afghan Taliban but maintains ties with them. Pakistani authorities have long accused the Afghan government of providing safe haven to TTP militants and allowing them to plan attacks from Afghan soil, which Kabul consistently denies, claiming militant violence is an internal Pakistani problem. This dispute further strains already tense bilateral relations. Pakistan regularly conducts airstrikes on Afghan territory it says are aimed at militants, and according to Afghan authorities and the United Nations, dozens of civilians were killed in the latest such strikes in June in eastern Afghanistan.
The attack in Tank is part of a worrying trend of rising militant violence in northwestern Pakistan. According to the annual security report for 2025 by the Center for Research and Security Studies (CRSS), the number of deaths in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province rose from 1,620 in 2024 to 2,331 in 2025. NOS notes that violence has escalated further since late February 2026, with hundreds more killed. TTP has been waging an armed struggle against the Pakistani state since 2007, aiming to overthrow the government and establish a strict Islamic system of governance, and its activity has significantly increased since the return of the Afghan Taliban to power in 2021.
The attack in Tank is not an isolated incident. In May 2026, a suicide bomber killed 15 police officers in an attack on the Fateh Khel police station in neighboring Bannu district, also in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province. Last week, Pakistani security forces killed 24 terrorists in Bannu and surrounding areas within 24 hours. ISPR announced that counterterrorism operations under the name "Azm-i-Istehkam," approved by the Federal Supreme Committee on the National Action Plan, are continuing at full intensity with the aim of eradicating terrorism, which Pakistan describes as "sponsored and supported from abroad."
