Explosion at Pakistani Taliban compound kills 24, including civilians

ISLAMABAD (AP) — Bomb-making material allegedly stored at a compound by Pakistani Taliban fighters exploded before dawn Monday in the country’s restive northwest, killing at least 24 people, including militants and civilians, police and security officials said.

But conflicting accounts later emerged with a local lawmaker claiming the deaths were instead caused by airstrikes in the Tirah Valley of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province.

There was no comment from the military and security officials dismissed the claim of a strike as baseless.

Earlier in the day, local police officer Zafar Khan said the massive explosion killed at least 10 civilians, including women and children, along with 14 militants.

But hours later, lawmaker Suhail Afridi told the provincial assembly that all those killed were civilians and that the deaths resulted from jets firing shells late Sunday.

Thousands of mourners attended the funerals of those killed in the northwestern Tirah Valley location and later rallied against the government, demanding justice for the dead.

As outrage grew online over the reported civilian deaths, the independent Human Rights Commission of Pakistan said it was “deeply shocked to learn that a number of civilians, including children, have been killed, allegedly as a result of aerial bombing” in the Tirah Valley. It urged authorities to investigate and take action against those responsible.

Three security officials said Monday there were no strikes in Tirah. They said militants from the Pakistani Taliban had established an improvised explosive device factory in the middle of a residential area.

The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the media. They said a massive blast happened inside the militant facility, which then spread to nearby houses.

They said 12 to 14 militants were killed in the overnight explosion, along with eight to 10 civilians who had been used as “human shields.”

The officials said the blast ripped through the house where two local Pakistani Taliban commanders, Aman Gul and Masood Khan, had stored explosives to make roadside bombs. They said multiple blasts were caused by the munitions stored at the compound.

Pakistan’s security forces are carrying out operations against the Pakistani Taliban in Khyber, Bajaur and other parts of the northwest. The operation in Bajaur began in August and it displaced hundreds of thousands of people, who later went back after most areas were cleared.

Pakistan has seen a surge in militant attacks, most claimed by the Pakistani Taliban, known as Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan or TTP, who are allied with the Afghan Taliban. The TTP is a separate group but has been emboldened since the Afghan Taliban’s return to power in 2021. Many TTP leaders and fighters are believed to have found sanctuary in Afghanistan.

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Associated Press writers Rasool Dawar and Riaz Khan in Peshawar contributed to this story.