A deadly suicide bombing in Pakistan’s North Waziristan district killed 13 soldiers and injured 29 others, including civilians, local officials told news agency AFP. According to the government official, who did not want to be named, a man drove a vehicle filled with explosives into a military convoy. The huge blast killed 13 soldiers, wounded 10 more army men, and hurt 19 civilians nearby.

A police officer said the explosion was so strong it made the roofs of two homes fall in, injuring six children inside. Four of the wounded soldiers are in very serious condition.

The attack was carried out by the suicide bombing group of Hafiz Gul Bahadur, a breakaway faction of the Pakistani Taliban.

Why has violence increased in Pakistan’s border areas

Violence has increased sharply in Pakistan’s border areas with Afghanistan since the Taliban took control of Kabul in 2021. Pakistan blames Afghanistan for letting armed groups use its land to plan attacks, though the Taliban denies this.

So far this year, about 290 people—most of them security forces—have been killed in attacks by militant groups in the provinces of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan, according to figures collected by AFP.

In March, the Pakistan Army said it killed 10 fighters linked to the Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) after a suicide bombing at a Frontier Corps camp near the Jandola checkpost in South Waziristan, as reported by Geo News.

That same month, fighters from the Baloch Liberation Army (BLA) attacked the Jaffar Express train near Gudalar and Piru Kunri. The attack killed 21 passengers and four members of the paramilitary force.

Terror-related deaths in Pakistan

Terror-related deaths in Pakistan have risen sharply. The Global Terrorism Index 2025 reports that Pakistan saw a 45 per cent increase in such fatalities, from 748 in 2023 to 1,081 in 2024, making it the second worst-hit country in the world by terrorism.