Gunmen fire on ambulance after Pakistani Taliban suicide bomber rams tractor into police checkpoint, killing 12

From the Newshound archive · first published 26 September 2026 · last updated 27 September 2026.

A suicide bomber drove an explosives-laden tractor into a roadside police checkpoint in Dera Ismail Khan, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, leaving at least 12 people dead and around 35 wounded. Security personnel and passersby made up most of the casualties, with two women and a child among those killed. Gunmen then opened fire on an ambulance that had responded to the scene, killing one rescue worker and wounding two others.

The Pakistani Taliban (TTP) claimed responsibility; the blast levelled the entire checkpoint, and witnesses reported gunshots in the immediate aftermath of the explosion.

Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari condemned the attack as 'highly condemnable' and called for increased pressure on the TTP, accusing it of operating with foreign backing.

The TTP, a conglomerate of roughly 40 militant groups allied with Afghanistan's Taliban, has been behind a surge in attacks on Pakistani security forces and civilians in recent years.