A militant car bombing has killed 15 police personnel at the Fateh Khel checkpoint in Bannu district, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan, with three others sustaining serious injuries, local media reported on Monday, 11 May 2025. A militant outfit identified as Ittehad-ul-Mujahideen Pakistan (IMP) claimed responsibility for the attack through social media channels.

How the Attack Unfolded

Between Saturday and Sunday night, the armed group rammed an explosives-laden vehicle into the Fateh Khel police checkpoint, reducing the structure to rubble in a massive blast. According to police, militants then opened indiscriminate fire from multiple directions following the explosion, triggering hours of sustained gunfire, further blasts, and widespread panic across the area.

Bannu Regional Police Officer (RPO) Sajjad Khan confirmed that 18 police personnel were deployed at the checkpoint during the attack. “Of them, 15 embraced martyrdom on the spot, while three sustained serious injuries,” he was quoted as saying by Pakistani daily Express Tribune. The explosion also caused extensive damage to residential buildings and other structures in the immediate vicinity.

Emergency Response and Civilian Impact

An emergency was declared in all three major hospitals in Bannu following the attack. Rescue 1122 teams reached the site and transported the injured and the deceased to medical facilities. The blast damaged surrounding residential buildings, compounding the humanitarian toll beyond the security personnel directly targeted.

The Pakistani Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Monday, 11 May, summoned the Afghan chargé d'affaires and handed over a strong demarche over the Bannu attack. According to the ministry, the strike killed 15 police personnel and injured four others, including a civilian.

Surge in Militant Violence Along the Afghan Border

The Bannu attack is part of a documented surge in militant activity in Pakistan's northwestern regions bordering Afghanistan, with security personnel and law enforcement agencies bearing the brunt of the violence in recent months. Earlier in May 2025, one police constable was killed and two others injured when armed assailants targeted a police vehicle with a rocket attack at Kangar Jan Bahadur in Bannu. That vehicle had been returning from the same Fateh Khel checkpoint to police lines at the time of the strike.

Pakistan has repeatedly accused Afghan soil of being used as a launchpad for cross-border militant operations, a charge that has strained diplomatic ties between Islamabad and Kabul. The latest demarche signals a further deterioration in bilateral relations as violence in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa continues to escalate.

What Comes Next

Security forces have launched a search operation in the Bannu district in the aftermath of the bombing. With the northwestern border region recording repeated high-casualty strikes on law enforcement, pressure is mounting on both civilian and military authorities to present a credible counter-militancy strategy. All eyes will be on Islamabad's next steps as diplomatic tensions with Kabul deepen.