At least four people, including a senior district government official, were killed on Tuesday in a militant attack in northwestern Pakistan, according to police statements cited by Anadolu Agency.

Militants ambushed the official vehicle of North Waziristan Assistant Commissioner Shah Wali Khan in the Mamandkhel area along the Bannu–Miranshah Road, in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) district. A district police control room official confirmed that Khan, two police personnel assigned to his security detail, and a civilian were all killed on the spot.

The attackers later set the official vehicle ablaze before fleeing the area. Police subsequently cordoned off the site and launched a search operation to locate the assailants.

Surge in attacks across Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Balochistan

The attack comes amid an escalating wave of militant activity in Pakistan’s northwest and southwest. On Monday, a policeman was killed and six others wounded in a suicide bombing targeting security forces in Lakki Marwat, a district that has long been vulnerable to militant operations due to its proximity to Bannu and North Waziristan.

Just a day earlier, security forces said they had foiled a suicide bombing and repelled another attempted attack in Balochistan’s Noukandi and Mastung districts, killing several militants.

The latest incidents underscore the intensifying security challenges across Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan, regions that have seen a resurgence of armed groups exploiting porous borders with Afghanistan and remote terrain.

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Rising civilian toll despite reduced military casualties

Pakistan recorded an 80% increase in civilian fatalities from militant attacks this year, even as losses among security forces dropped sharply by 65%, according to the Pakistan Institute for Conflict and Security Studies (PICSS).

In its most recent monthly report, the Islamabad-based think tank noted that 292 people were killed and 164 wounded in anti-state violence and security operations during November alone, highlighting the sustained volatility gripping the country.

Surge in Tehreek‑e‑Taliban Pakistan attacks 

The deadly ambush in North Waziristan is part of a broader surge in militant activity attributed to the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) organization across Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and neighbouring districts. Authorities report that KP has seen hundreds of terror incidents in 2025 alone. By August, more than 600 attacks had been recorded in the province, with the highest numbers concentrated in the Bannu Division, including Bannu, North Waziristan, and adjoining districts.

In response, Pakistan’s security forces have stepped up intelligence-based operations across the region. In one of the major sweeps, in September, 31 militants were killed in coordinated operations in Lakki Marwat and Bannu, according to the military’s media wing. Another operation in November, in North Waziristan and Dera Ismail Khan, claimed 15 militants.

Provincial authorities and police have further noted that militants continue to exploit the rugged terrain and borderlands with Afghanistan for infiltration and mobility, enabling them to mount ambushes, bombings, and targeted attacks on security forces and officials alike.

Read more: Tehreek-e-Taliban claim attacks that killed 23 in northwest Pakistan