Suicide bomber kills at least 14 at anti-militant rally in Pakistan's Swat Valley
The attacker detonated explosives at a crowded intersection near a police station in Kabal, where residents had gathered to demand action against rising militant violence. Eight police officers were among the dead after they stopped the bomber at the gate.
The attack
A suicide bomber targeted a peace rally outside a police station in Kabal, a town in Pakistan's Swat Valley, on Sunday evening. Hundreds of residents and civil society activists had gathered near the station, chanting anti-militant slogans and demanding government action against a surge in violence. Swat District Police Officer Umar Khan said the attacker attempted to enter the police station but was stopped by officers at the main gate. The bomber then detonated his explosive belt at the crowded intersection, tearing through the crowd as the final speaker was addressing the gathering.
Police officers sacrificed their lives to stop the suicide bomber from entering the police station.
Casualties
Bilal Faizi, a spokesman for the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa provincial emergency service, said at least 14 people were declared dead at two hospitals in the district. Swat Deputy Inspector General of Police Fida Hussain told AFP that 13 people, including eight police officers, were killed, and another body, suspected to be that of the bomber, was brought to hospital. He added that 22 people were wounded. The discrepancy reflects whether the attacker is counted among the dead. The wounded were taken to a hospital in nearby Saidu Sharif, some in critical condition.
- Hundreds of residents and civil society activists assemble near Kabal police station for an anti-militant peace rally.
- A suicide bomber attempts to enter the police station but is stopped by officers at the main gate.
- The attacker detonates his explosive belt at the crowded intersection, tearing through the crowd as the final speaker addresses the gathering.
- At least 14 people are declared dead and 22 wounded; eight police officers are among the fatalities.
Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif expressed his "deep sorrow and grief" over the attack. No group immediately claimed responsibility, but regional police blamed the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), the outlawed militant group that has intensified attacks on security forces across northwestern Pakistan.
Separate blast in Peshawar
On the same day, a homemade bomb exploded in the provincial capital Peshawar, wounding four police officers. The TTP claimed that attack, the city's police chief told AFP. The twin incidents underscore the deteriorating security situation in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province.
Surge in militant violence
At least 112 members of Pakistan's security forces were killed in militant attacks nationwide in July, the highest monthly toll since January 2023 and the second-highest in more than a decade, according to the Pakistan Institute for Conflict and Security Studies. The previous peak came in January 2023, when a suicide bombing at a mosque inside a police compound in Peshawar killed more than 100 people, most of them police officers. A military spokesman said on Friday that militant attacks and ensuing operations had killed 819 security personnel and civilians so far this year.
Swat's violent past
Swat Valley, a popular tourist destination, was the centre of a brutal Taliban insurgency between 2007 and 2009. Militants seized control of much of the valley, imposed their interpretation of Islamic law, closed girls' schools and carried out public executions. The region drew global attention in 2012 when Taliban gunmen shot teenage schoolgirl Malala Yousafzai, who survived and later became the youngest Nobel Peace Prize laureate. Although Pakistan's military drove militants out in large-scale operations, attacks have resurged in recent years.
Regional tensions
Pakistan has accused Afghanistan's Taliban government of providing sanctuary to TTP leaders who orchestrate cross-border attacks. Kabul denies the charge. The accusations have sparked a bitter rift and even armed conflict between the neighbours. Pakistan has carried out deadly airstrikes it says target militants on Afghan soil. The Taliban government and the United Nations said dozens of civilians were killed in the latest Pakistani strikes on eastern Afghanistan in June.
