DERA ISMAIL KHAN, Pakistan: At least 12 people were killed and several others injured when a vehicle laden with explosives was rammed into an anti-smuggling checkpost in the Aman Mela area of Dera Ismail Khan district in Pakistan’s northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province was targeted in a bomb attack on Saturday, officials said.
The dead included women and children, Rescue 1122 said, adding that rescue teams were continuing relief operations at the site and recovering victims from the debris.
Police said the blast occurred at the Aman Mela checkpost, located near Mughal Kot and Darazinda on the Dera Ismail Khan-Quetta Road, close to the border between Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan provinces of Pakistan.
The Aman Mela Police Checkpost is an anti-smuggling post located on the Dera Ismail Khan-Quetta Road.
Security sources said the attack on the anti-smuggling checkpost was clear evidence of collusion between terrorists and criminal elements, including smugglers.
“Security forces and civilians have once again been targeted in a brutal attack by Khwarij (terrorists),” security sources said.
There was intense anger and unrest among local residents over the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government’s apathy and lack of concern over terrorism, security sources said.
Dera Ismail Khan Regional Police Officer (RPO) Ghulam Mubashir Maken told the media shortly after the blast that the blast claimed the lives of 12 people and injured 30. Sources said the injured included police personnel, customs officials, and civilians.
According to police and Rescue 1122 officials, an unidentified attacker rammed the explosives-laden tractor trolley into the anti-smuggling checkpost. Dera Ismail Khan District Police Officer (DPO) Ziauddin Ahmed confirmed that it was a suicide blast.
The blast destroyed a large portion of the anti-smuggling checkpost and completely demolished a house adjacent to the post.
DPO Ahmed and the superintendent of police for the Saddar area reached the site soon after the explosion and supervised the rescue operation. Six policemen were among the injured, according to police officials.
Meanwhile, District Excise Officer Faheem Wazir said Excise personnel present at the checkpost remained safe.
Meanwhile, Rescue 1122 said more than 30 injured people had so far been provided initial medical assistance, with 18 of them referred to medical facilities in Darazinda and Mufti Mahmood Hospital in Dera Ismail Khan city for further treatment.
The rescue service said more than 25 personnel, six ambulances and a fire vehicle were taking part in the relief operations.
Rescue 1122 District Emergency Officer Muhammad Arif Khan had directed the deployment of four additional ambulances with staff from Dera Ismail Khan city to assist in the rescue operation and facilitate the evacuation of the injured.
In a statement, President Asif Ali Zardari strongly condemned the blast and expressed grief over the lives lost.
President Zardari ordered that the best medical facilities be provided to the injured, and that relief operations be made “more effective”.
“Making innocent citizens and law enforcement personnel a target of terrorism is highly condemnable,” he was quoted as saying.
“Operations against terrorists belonging to Fitna al Hindustan and Fitna al Khawarij, who perpetrate heinous acts with foreign support, must be made more effective.”
صدرِ مملکت آصف علی زرداری کی ڈیرہ اسماعیل خان میں دہشتگرد حملےکی شدید مذمت۔
صدرِ مملکت آصف علی زرداری نے ڈیرہ اسماعیل خان میں پولیس چیک پوسٹ پر بم دھماکے کی شدید مذمت کی ہے۔
صدرِ مملکت نے دھماکے کے نتیجے میں معصوم قیمتی جانوں کے ضیاع پر گہرے دکھ اور افسوس کا اظہار کیا ہے۔
صدرِ…
— The President of Pakistan (@PresOfPakistan) September 26, 2026
In his statement, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said the sacrifices of the nation’s defenders in the war against terrorism would never go in vain.
He reiterated that the government remains fully committed to the complete eradication of terrorism from the country.
Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi, in a post on the interior ministry’s X account, strongly condemned the blast in Dera Ismail Khan and expressed his condolences to the families of those killed in the incident.
“The cowardly acts of kharjis cannot weaken the nation’s firm resolve against terrorism,” Naqvi said. “Khyber Pakhtunkhwa is on the front lines of the fight against terrorism,” he said.
وفاقی وزیر داخلہ محسن نقوی کی ڈیرہ اسماعیل خان کے علاقے میں انسدادِ سمگلنگ ’'امن میلہ پولیس چیک پوسٹ‘' پر خودکش حملے کی پرزور مذمت
وزیر داخلہ کا دھماکے میں قیمتی انسانی جانوں کے ضیاع پر گہرے دکھ اور افسوس کا اظہار
وزیر داخلہ کا شہداء کے لواحقین سے دلی ہمدردی و اظہار تعزیت— Ministry of Interior GoP (@MOIofficialGoP) September 26, 2026
Naqvi added that people from all walks of life have made sacrifices against terrorism, stating that the state deeply values the sacrifices of martyrs.
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Governor Faisal Karim Kundi strongly condemned the attack and sought a report from senior officials on the incident. He directed that every possible medical facility be provided to those injured.
“The attack is a nefarious conspiracy by Fitna al-Hindustan Khawarij,” the governor said.
The state refers to designated Balochistan-based terrorist groups as Fitna al Hindustan to highlight India’s role in terrorism and destabilisation across Pakistan, and uses the term Fitna al Khawarij for the banned Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) terrorist group.
