At least 24 people, including women and children, were killed and several others injured on Monday when a cache of explosives stored at a Pakistani Taliban compound detonated in northwest Pakistan’s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, police said.
The incident occurred in the Matur Dara area of Tirah Valley in Khyber district, near the Afghanistan border. Local authorities rejected claims that the site was struck by Pakistan Air Force jets, stating instead that the explosion was triggered by bomb-making materials stored inside the compound.
According to Tirah Police Station’s Station House Officer Zafar Khan, the dead included 14 militants and 10 civilians. Witnesses in the area, however, alleged that airstrikes were carried out.
The compound was reportedly a key hub for militant leaders and Afghan fighters, serving as a training ground for sniper operations and the production of improvised explosive devices (IEDs). Militants are known to establish such facilities within civilian populations, making them difficult for security forces to target. Poor storage conditions and training activities often result in accidental blasts.
Pakistan has witnessed a surge in terrorist incidents since the Taliban’s takeover of Afghanistan in 2021, despite Islamabad’s hopes that a friendly regime in Kabul would help curb militancy.
