11 soldiers, 1 child killed in Pakistan after explosive-laden vehicle rams security post

In Bajaur, Pakistan, a suicide bomber drove an explosive-laden vehicle into a security post on Monday night, killing 11 soldiers and a child. The attack occurred in a former Pakistani Taliban stronghold in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, near the Afghan border. According to the military, troops signaled the vehicle to stop, after which the bomber detonated the explosives, causing part of the compound to collapse and damaging nearby civilian homes. Following the bombing, a group of militants attempted to enter the security post, leading to a shootout in which security forces killed 12 militants. The attack follows ongoing tensions in the region since security forces launched an operation against militants in August.

Two bomb attacks and a gun battle have occurred in northwest Pakistan's Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, resulting in at least three deaths and possibly as many as a dozen. On Monday, two people were killed when explosives attached to a motorcycle detonated near a police station in Bannu district. Later that day, an explosives-laden vehicle detonated while being driven towards a security checkpoint in the Bajaur district, killing a girl when a nearby building collapsed due to the blast. Eight members of the Pakistan Taliban group were killed by troops in a gun battle following the vehicle attack. A separate suicide bombing at a religious college also occurred, resulting in eight police and Frontier Corps personnel being martyred and 10 others injured. The causes and connections between the attacks are currently unknown.