Pakistan Summons Afghan Envoy After Suicide Attack Kills 15 Police Officers

Pakistan summoned a senior Afghan diplomat on Monday to lodge a formal protest over a suicide attack in its northwest that killed 15 police officers. Officials handed the complaint to the Afghan charge d'affaires and warned that Islamabad reserves the right to respond decisively against the perpetrators.

The attack occurred late Saturday in Bannu district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, which borders Afghanistan. A suicide bomber detonated an explosives-laden vehicle near a security post, after which several gunmen opened fire. Some officers died in the shootout while others were killed when part of the building collapsed.

Four officers were wounded. Pakistani authorities have blamed the Pakistani Taliban, known as Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan or TTP, for the assault. A newly formed splinter group called Ittehad-ul-Mujahideen Pakistan claimed responsibility. Officials have accused the splinter group of acting as a front for the TTP.

A detailed investigation, including evidence collected and technical intelligence, indicates the attack was masterminded by terrorists residing in Afghanistan, the Foreign Ministry said in a statement. Islamabad has long accused the Taliban government of sheltering the TTP, a separate group but closely allied to the Afghan Taliban.

The ministry told the Afghan diplomat that if the Taliban regime continues to harbour these terrorist organizations, Pakistan will not compromise on its national security or on the safety and protection of its citizens. There was no immediate comment from Kabul on the protest.

The Afghan Taliban government did not have a comment at the moment, a deputy spokesperson told Reuters. Kabul has denied the accusations, saying it does not allow militants to use Afghan soil to attack other countries and that militancy in Pakistan is an internal problem.

Pakistan has witnessed a surge in militant violence in recent years, much of it blamed on the TTP. Tensions between Islamabad and Kabul have persisted despite peace talks mediated by China in early April. Sporadic cross-border clashes have continued, though at a lower intensity than earlier fighting that killed hundreds of people since late February.

Militant attacks have the potential to reignite fighting along Pakistan's border with Afghanistan. The worst fighting in years erupted between the two sides in February, with Pakistani airstrikes inside Afghanistan that Islamabad said targeted militant strongholds.