Attack on Pakistani Army Base Claims Lives of 23 Soldiers

A police compound in Pakistan's Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province was attacked by militants, resulting in the death of 23 soldiers and numerous injuries. The attack began when a vehicle filled with explosives crashed into the building near the Afghan border. A militant group linked to the Pakistani Taliban claimed responsibility for the assault. The compound served as a base for the Pakistani army. Prior to the vehicle ramming, the militants tried to enter the compound in the Dera Ismail Khan district but were unsuccessful. They then used a truck loaded with explosives to breach the compound's boundary wall, followed by a suicide bomb attack that caused the building to collapse. There are concerns that ammunition stored inside the compound may have detonated as well. Six attackers were killed, and a total of 27 militants died in subsequent military operations. Pakistan's Caretaker Prime Minister and Interior Minister condemned the attack. The newly emerged Tahreek-e-Jihad Pakistan (TJP) claimed responsibility. Militant attacks in Pakistan have been increasing, especially in border regions with Afghanistan, since the Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) abandoned a ceasefire last year. Experts suggest that the TTP has become more audacious after the Afghan Taliban regained power in Afghanistan. Islamabad alleges that insurgents operate from across the border, although the Afghan Taliban denies this. The TTP, a separate entity from the Afghan Taliban but sharing a similar extremist ideology, has been engaged in conflict with Pakistan's armed forces and police for years. The group seeks to impose its interpretation of Sharia law in north-west Pakistan. In January, a bomb blast at a mosque in Peshawar claimed the lives of around 100 people, although the TTP denied responsibility, instead blaming it on a splinter faction commander.