A wave of coordinated terrorist violence across Pakistan has claimed the lives of nine security personnel in separate attacks carried out in Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, highlighting growing security concerns in the region. On February 24, a suicide bombing targeted the Dajjal check post in Punjab province, killing four members of the security forces. On the same day, another deadly assault occurred in the Kohat region of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, where unidentified militants ambushed a police vehicle, killed five policemen and later set the vehicle ablaze.
CCTV footage from the Punjab attack captured the moments leading up to the explosion, showing security personnel moving around the checkpoint shortly before the blast occurred. Investigators later identified the suicide attacker as Abu Darda. The militant organisation Ansar ul-Islam, a Barelvi Sunni Islamist group founded in 2004 by Afghan Sufi preacher Pir Saif-ur Rehman, claimed responsibility for the bombing. This marks the first known instance of the group publicly claiming involvement in a terrorist attack within Pakistan.
In the Kohat incident, officials confirmed that, in addition to the five police officers killed, two civilians also lost their lives. Pakistan’s Federal Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi stated that no militant group has yet claimed responsibility for that attack, and investigations are continuing to determine the perpetrators and possible links between the two incidents.
The attacks occurred amid heightened tensions between Pakistan and Afghanistan, following recent cross-border clashes between security forces from both countries. Pakistani authorities have suggested external involvement and pointed towards Afghanistan, while Afghan officials have rejected the allegations, asserting that the violence stems from Pakistan’s internal militancy challenges rather than cross-border interference.
