Asia and Oceania

Attack on a police post in Pakistan, 15 dead

The attack, which threatens to reignite the conflict between Islamabad and Kabul, began with a car bomb and continued with an assault on survivors and reinforcements

from our correspondent Marco Masciaga

10 May 2026

Una scavatrice al lavoro tra le macerie di un posto di polizia distrutto da un’autombomba a Bannu, nel nord ovest del Pakistan REUTERS

3' min read

Translated by AI

Versione italiana

Key points

The claim
Regional stability risks
Pakistani accusations rejected by Kabul and New Delhi

3' min read

Translated by AI

Versione italiana

NEW DELHI - At least 15 officers were killed after a sophisticated attack on a police post in north-west Pakistan on Saturday night. The attack was carried out on the outskirts of the city of Bannu, in the province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, and took place in three stages: first with a car bomb, then by attacking survivors in the rubble, and then by ambushing the security forces that had rushed to the scene of the attack.

Anonymous police sources quoted by the Agence France-Presse reported that the militants also allegedly used drones. Three wounded were taken to hospital. According to the account of some witnesses, the explosion and subsequent heavy weapons fighting not only destroyed the building occupied by the security forces, but also damaged some surrounding houses.

The claim

Responsibility for the attack was claimed by Ittehad-ul-Mujahideen, 'a conglomerate of militant groups' operating in the region, as defined by The Khorasan Diary, a specialised website. The group calls itself a splinter faction of Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (Ttp), but - according to the authorities in Islamabad - it is still an organic formation of Ttp.

The militants "first attacked the police station with a car loaded with explosives, then entered the facility and opened fire," said a Pakistani official, asking to remain anonymous. "Other members of the security forces were sent in support of the police, but the terrorists ambushed them causing further casualties," he continued.

Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (Ttp) is one of the extremist formations that, together with the Islamic State-Khorasan Province (Iskp), aspires to overthrow the government in Islamabad in order to establish a caliphate in the only Islamic atomic power on the planet.

Regional Stability Risks

Apart from the high death toll, operations of this kind risk heavy consequences because they could reignite fighting along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border. Last February, the two former allies fought for days. Clashes took place partly on the border and partly deep inside Afghan territory, claiming hundreds of victims.

Islamabad struck the capital Kabul and the provinces of Kandahar and Paktia with air raids that targeted both targets linked to alleged extremist groups and installations directly linked to the Taliban government. Since then, fighting has subsided, with occasional skirmishes along the border, but no official ceasefire has been reached, despite attempts by China to mediate.

There is such a difference between the Pakistani and Afghan armed forces in terms of men and means that it is unthinkable that Kabul could think of fighting a conventional war against the neighbouring nuclear power.

Pakistani accusations rejected by Kabul and New Delhi

Islamabad has long accused the government in Kabul of harbouring militants who use Afghan territory to plan attacks in Pakistan. The Taliban have always rejected the accusations. The two countries have had good relations for years.

In Islamabad's military doctrine, the neighbouring country has always been important to ensure that 'strategic depth' that, in the event of an invasion by India, would enable the Pakistani Armed Forces to withdraw beyond the Durand Line, reorganise and launch a counter-offensive. The Taliban's return to power in 2021 has, somewhat surprisingly, soured relations between the two countries.

Another recurring accusation on the Pakistani side is that of India using Afghan territory to coordinate cross-border attacks by extremist groups and irredentists in Balochistan through its network of consulates.

New Delhi, which has hosted senior officials of the Kabul government more than once in recent months, has always rejected Islamabad's accusations. But - displaying a good dose of political realism - the Hindu nationalist government of PM Narendra Modi makes no secret of the fact that it wants to increase exchanges and collaboration with the ruling Taliban regime in Afghanistan, thus contributing to the Pakistanis' sense of encirclement.