A bomber detonated an explosives-packed car in a military convoy in North Waziristan district, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, Pakistan, killing a minimum of 13 soldiers and wounding 10 military personnel and 19 civilians. The attack also destroyed neighboring houses and wounded six children, all on Friday, a regional government official told news outlets, speaking anonymously.

“A suicide attacker drove an explosive vehicle into a convoy of troops. The explosion killed 13 soldiers, injured 10 troops and 19 civilians,” the official said. A police officer in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa also said, “The explosion also damaged the roofs of two houses, which collapsed injuring six children.”

No organization has so far owned up to the horrendous attack. The area, though on the border with Afghanistan, has been a hotbed of militancy and has been attacked repeatedly by the Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), or Pakistani Taliban. 

The recent suicide attack is part of an alarming escalation of militancy attacks in Pakistan, especially in the provinces of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan.

Earlier this year in March, the Pakistan Army said that it had killed 10 suspected militants with TTP ties after a suicide attacker attacked a Frontier Corps camp near the Jandola checkpost in South Waziristan, Geo News reported. That same month, BLA militants attacked the Jaffar Express passenger train and killed 21 passengers and four paramilitary soldiers.

Based on the Global Terrorism Index 2025, terrorism-related killings in Pakistan have seen a troubling 45% increase, from 748 lives lost in 2023 to 1,081 in 2024. Pakistan ranks second in the world in terms of terrorist casualties, placing spotlight on the country’s serious security issues.