A suicide bomber drove an explosive-laden vehicle into a checkpoint outside a police station in the Fateh Khel area of Bannu city on the evening of 9/5, detonating it, police official Muhammad Sajjad Khan stated on 10/5.

Nearly 100 gunmen stormed the station immediately after the car bomb exploded. An unnamed senior administrative official in Bannu confirmed, "They used both drones and heavy weapons."

The police station in Bannu city, Pakistan, was leveled after the attack on the night of 9/5. Photo: Reuters

Some police officers died in the intense gunfight with the militants, while others perished when the building collapsed. Law enforcement forces from nearby areas were dispatched for assistance but were ambushed by the militants, suffering casualties, an unnamed police official said.

Mr. Khan confirmed that a total of 15 police officers were killed. He added, "During their retreat, the attackers also abducted police officers and stole weapons from the station."

Ambulances from rescue units and hospitals were quickly deployed to the scene, as authorities declared a state of emergency at medical facilities in Bannu city.

Images after the attack showed the police station reduced to rubble, with bricks, stones, and charred, distorted vehicle wreckage scattered across the site.

The armed group Ittehad-ul-Mujahideen, a faction of the Taliban in Pakistan, claimed responsibility for the assault.

This attack is the latest in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, a border region experiencing a wave of violence that is straining relations between Pakistan and Afghanistan.

Militant attacks risk escalating conflict along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border. The worst confrontation in years erupted between the two countries in February after Pakistan conducted airstrikes inside Afghan territory, citing targets against militant bases.

The conflict has subsided with sporadic clashes along the border, but no ceasefire agreement has been signed.

Location of Bannu city in Pakistan. Graphics: BBC

Islamabad accuses Kabul of harboring militant groups that use Afghan territory to plan attacks in Pakistan. The Taliban denies these accusations, stating that the violence in Pakistan is an internal issue for that nation.

Vu Hoang (According to Reuters, AFP)