Deadly assaults hit police training school and border areas as tensions rise between Pakistan and Afghanistan

PESHAWAR, October 11, 2025 — A wave of coordinated assaults by Pakistani Taliban militants left more than 20 security officers and three civilians dead across the volatile northwestern region bordering Afghanistan on Friday. The banned group, Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), later claimed responsibility for the deadly incidents.

According to security officials, militants targeted multiple districts in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, including Khyber and Bajaur, in a series of attacks that began early Friday and continued through the night.

In the Khyber district, at least 11 paramilitary soldiers were killed when insurgents ambushed a security convoy near the Afghan border. Hours later, a suicide bomber struck a police training center, ramming an explosives-laden vehicle into its main gate before gunmen opened fire, killing seven police officers and injuring several others.

Meanwhile, in Bajaur district, clashes between militants and security personnel resulted in the deaths of five people, including three civilians.

The TTP confirmed responsibility for the coordinated attacks through statements on social media platforms. While the group operates independently, it maintains close ideological and operational ties with the Afghan Taliban.

These assaults occurred just hours after the Taliban-led Afghan government accused Pakistan of violating its airspace, following two explosions reported near Kabul on Thursday. Islamabad did not confirm any strikes but reiterated its right to take defensive action against militants using Afghan soil to attack Pakistan.

The Pakistani government has repeatedly blamed Afghanistan for sheltering TTP leaders and failing to prevent cross-border terrorism — accusations that Kabul denies.

Militant violence has sharply risen in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa since the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2021 and the Taliban’s return to power in Kabul. Security analysts warn that the resurgent TTP has regrouped, posing a serious challenge to Pakistan’s counterterrorism operations in the border belt.

Including Friday’s attacks, at least 32 Pakistani troops and three civilians have been killed in the region since the start of the week, making it one of the deadliest periods of violence in months.