Suicide car bomber, militants attack military post in northwest
Pakistan, killing 4 soldiers
[December 20, 2025]
ISLAMABAD (AP) — A suicide car bomber and three gunmen
attacked a military post near a village in northwest Pakistan on Friday,
triggering an hourlong gunbattle that killed four soldiers and wounded
at least 15 civilians, including women and children, authorities said.
The attack took place in North Waziristan, a former stronghold of the
Pakistani Taliban and other militant groups in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa
province bordering Afghanistan, according to the Pakistani military and
local police.
Police said the blast caused nearby homes to collapse, injuring
civilians.
The military in a statement said all the attackers were killed by troops
during the fighting. No group immediately claimed responsibility, but
the military blamed the Pakistani Taliban for the assault.
It said the attackers initially tried to breach the post’s perimeter but
were repelled. The militants then rammed an explosives-laden vehicle
into the outer wall, it said.
The impact of the bombing damaged nearby homes and a mosque, it said.
The military said the attack was planned and directed from across the
border in Afghanistan. There was no immediate comment from Kabul, which
for years has insisted that it does not allow anyone to use Afghan soil
to launch attacks against any country, including Pakistan.
The military said Pakistan expects Afghanistan’s Taliban rulers to
prevent militants from using Afghan territory to launch attacks on
Pakistan.
It added that Pakistan reserves the right to pursue militants and their
facilitators.
Hours after the attack in North Waziristan, Pakistan’s Ministry of
Foreign Affairs said it summoned the Afghan Taliban’s deputy head of
mission in Islamabad to lodge a formal protest.
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In a statement, the ministry said “Pakistan has demanded a full
investigation and decisive action against the perpetrators and
facilitators of the terrorist attacks launched against Pakistan from
Afghan soil.”
It said the “Afghan Taliban regime has been urged to take immediate,
concrete and verifiable measures against all terror groups operating
from its territory, including their leadership, and deny the
continued use of Afghan soil for terrorism against Pakistan”.
The “Afghan Taliban regime has also been categorically informed that
Pakistan reserves the right to defend its sovereignty and protect
its citizens, and will take all necessary measures to respond to
terrorism originating from Afghan soil," the ministry said.
Pakistan often accuses Afghanistan’s Taliban rulers of harboring the
Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan, a militant group responsible for a surge
in attacks inside Pakistan since 2021. Kabul denies the charge,
saying it does not allow its territory to be used against other
countries.
Although separate from Afghanistan’s Taliban, the TTP is closely
allied with it.
Tensions between Pakistan and Afghanistan have risen since October,
when border clashes erupted after explosions in Kabul on Oct. 9 that
Afghanistan blamed on Pakistan. Although Qatar later brokered a
ceasefire, the two sides failed to reach an agreement during
subsequent talks hosted by Turkey in November.
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