A suicide bombing struck the Federal Constabulary (FC) headquarters in Peshawar on Monday, killing three paramilitary personnel and injuring four others. The attack took place at approximately 8:10 am local time (3:10 am GMT), targeting one of the city's busiest areas along Saddar Road, just before morning rush hour.

According to Peshawar police chief Mian Saeed, the incident involved three attackers. One detonated explosives at the gate, while security forces shot and killed the other two. An AFP correspondent reportedly saw body parts of a suspected assailant scattered near the damaged entrance, which bore marks from shrapnel.

Police authorities, including Khyber Pakhtunkhwa provincial police chief Zulfiqar Hameed, confirmed to AFP that a clearance operation was underway to check for any unexploded ordnance.

No group has claimed responsibility for the attack so far.

Government response

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif strongly condemned the attack and praised the quick response by security personnel, stating their efforts helped prevent greater loss of life. 

"The perpetrators of this incident should be identified as soon as possible and brought to justice," he asserted. "We will thwart the evil designs of terrorists who attack Pakistan’s integrity."

Despite intensified counterterrorism operations resulting in 1,265 militant deaths through September 2025, up 66% from 2023, the security situation continues to deteriorate, with violence intensifying rather than subsiding.

Part of unprecedented violence surge

The Peshawar attack comes amid Pakistan's most severe militant violence surge in nearly a decade. By the end of the third quarter of 2025, the country had recorded 2,414 fatalities, nearly matching the entire 2024 toll of 2,546 deaths with three months still remaining. The year 2024 itself was already the deadliest for Pakistani security forces since 2014, with 685 security personnel killed in 444 terror attacks.

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province, where Peshawar is located, has borne the brunt, accounting for approximately 71% of total violence-linked fatalities in the third quarter of 2025 alone. The primary perpetrator is the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), which has conducted over 600 attacks in 2025, representing a nearly 58% year-on-year increase.

The group has benefited from safe havens across the Afghan border, with the Taliban government in Kabul accused of offering the TTP logistical support

Recent wave of terrorist attacks

The Peshawar bombing follows escalating violence throughout November. On November 11, a suicide bomber killed 12 people outside Islamabad's District Judicial Complex in the capital's deadliest attack in nearly a decade. The previous night, militants attacked an army-run cadet college in Wana, with four attackers killed.

Between November 19-20, TTP militants killed seven people in Bannu district, with Pakistani forces subsequently killing 23 militants near the Afghan border.