The Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) claimed responsibility Saturday for a wave of coordinated terror attacks across several northwestern districts that killed 20 security officials and three civilians, authorities and witnesses said.

The assaults, which included a suicide bombing at a police training school followed by a gun attack, illustrated the renewed intensity of militancy along Pakistan’s border with Afghanistan.

The attacks took place on Friday in multiple districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province, and 11 paramilitary troops were killed in the border Khyber district. In a separate incident, a suicide bomber drove an explosives-laden vehicle into the gate of a police training school; the blast was followed by an armed assault that left seven policemen dead.

“Seven police personnel were martyred and 13 were injured in the attack, while six terrorists were also killed,” Muhammad Hussain, a senior local police official, told AFP.

Security officials added that five people, including three civilians, were killed in a clash between militants and paramilitary troops in Bajaur district. Including Friday’s incidents, at least 32 Pakistani troops and three civilians have been killed in the border regions this week, officials said.

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TTP claims and links to the Afghan theatre

The Pakistani TTP, which is organizationally distinct from but closely linked with the Afghan Taliban, posted messages on social media claiming responsibility for the attacks. Militancy in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa has surged since the withdrawal of US-led forces from Afghanistan in 2021 and the return of the Taliban government to Kabul, security analysts say.

A recent UN report cited by officials has alleged that the TTP receives “substantial logistical and operational support from the de facto authorities,” a finding that has intensified Islamabad’s accusations of safe havens across the border.

The latest assaults came hours after Afghanistan’s Taliban government accused Pakistan of “violating Kabul’s sovereign territory,” following two explosions heard in the Afghan capital a day earlier. Pakistan has neither publicly accepted nor denied involvement in the Kabul blasts, but Islamabad insists it has the right to defend itself against escalating cross-border militancy.

Pakistan warns: ‘Enough is enough’

Pakistani Defense Minister Khawaja Muhammad Asif told parliament this week that repeated diplomatic appeals to Kabul to expel militant groups had failed.

“We will not tolerate this any longer,” Asif said, warning that efforts to target those facilitating militants could cause collateral damage. “Everyone will have to bear the consequences, including those providing the hideouts.”

Security sources reported dozens of militants have also been killed in recent operations, but officials warn that the violence shows no immediate sign of abating.

According to military tallies cited by officials, more than 500 people, including 311 troops and 73 policemen, have been killed in attacks in Pakistan’s border regions from January through September 15 of this year.

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