At least six people, including two children, were killed and 13 others injured after mortar shells struck a civilian area in Pakistan’s northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province on Thursday. The incident took place in the Thall area of Hangu district, a region close to the Afghanistan border that has witnessed frequent militant violence in recent years.
According to local police officials, the shells landed in a crowded market and nearby residential areas during a security operation targeting militants in the Zargari and Do Ruddi Banda regions. Authorities said armed assailants opened fire on security personnel using both light and heavy weapons, while two mortar rounds struck civilian locations, causing heavy casualties.
Police officer Tariq Habib said rescue teams rushed to evacuate the wounded after the first explosion, but another shell reportedly landed near the same spot, creating panic among residents. Several shops and nearby buildings were damaged in the attack.
The injured victims were immediately shifted to Civil Hospital Hangu. Hospital officials confirmed that six bodies and 13 injured persons had been brought to the medical facility. Doctors said at least five of the injured were in critical condition and were later referred to hospitals in Kohat and Peshawar for advanced treatment.
Security forces quickly cordoned off the area and launched a large-scale search operation against the suspected militants. Additional police and paramilitary personnel were deployed to prevent further attacks and maintain law and order in the region.
No group has officially claimed responsibility for the attack so far. However, suspicion is likely to fall on militant outfits active in Pakistan’s tribal belt, especially the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), which has intensified attacks on security forces and civilians in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan over the past few years.
Pakistan has witnessed a sharp rise in militant violence since the Taliban returned to power in neighboring Afghanistan in 2021. Islamabad has repeatedly accused armed groups of using Afghan territory to launch attacks inside Pakistan, an allegation denied by the Taliban administration in Kabul.
The latest incident has once again raised concerns over the worsening security situation in Pakistan’s northwestern border regions, where civilians often get caught in the middle of clashes between militants and security forces.
