Deadly attack on Pakistan outpost puts Afghanistan ceasefire at risk

An attack on a security compound in northwest Pakistan has killed several paramilitary officers, with the Afghan-based Pakistan Taliban (TTP) claiming responsibility.

An armed group rammed a vehicle filled with explosives into the Bajaur district camp’s gate on Thursday and then launched a gun battle, security sources said. It was the latest in a string of deadly incidents in the border region that threaten the fragile ceasefire between Islamabad and Kabul.

The vehicle triggered a “huge explosion,” one Pakistani official told Reuters news agency. The fighters then rushed the camp and opened “indiscriminate fire”.

Reports say that eight or nine Pakistani soldiers were killed in the attack. At least 10 of the attackers were killed, the AFP news agency reported, while about 35 security personnel were wounded.

A Reuters journalist in the town of Bajaur said the blast was felt at markets more than 20 kilometres (12 miles) from the compound. Images showed that most of the outpost’s structures had been destroyed or charred by flames.

Pakistani military troops reportedly shut down nearby roads and surrounded the compound, which is located on the mountainous border with Afghanistan.

The Pakistan Taliban (TTP), which seeks to overthrow the Pakistani government via attacks launched from its base in the remote border area of Afghanistan, claimed responsibility for the attack.

The latest attack adds to several other assaults in the same region, which have killed more than 20 people in recent days.

A car bomb killed more than a dozen as it targeted a police post, while at least nine people were killed in an explosion at a market.

Three security personnel were wounded in Bajaur’s Inayat Killi area when a mortar shell landed inside another camp, officials told AFP.

Islamabad claims Afghanistan is harbouring the armed groups that carry out attacks inside Pakistan. Kabul denies the accusation, with tension between the South Asian neighbours surging since the Afghan Taliban returned to power in 2021.

From February, this friction escalated into cross-border clashes between the two countries, and then into what Pakistan’s defence minister declared was “open war“.

A pause was agreed to in March, but sporadic violence broke out again. Islamabad and Kabul agreed last month to avoid escalation in China-brokered discussions.

However, the talks have not resulted in a formal agreement or ceasefire, leaving the situation volatile. The series of attacks over recent days threatens to ignite further hostilities between the two states.

The cross-border conflict has killed at least 372 Afghan civilians and injured nearly 400 others in the first three months of 2026 alone, the United Nations said earlier this week.