Twenty people are killed in attacks in northwestern Pakistan within 24 hours

The bombing came less than 24 hours after another attack, also in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, according to an intelligence official who spoke on condition of anonymity.

That clash on Monday lasted for hours and resulted in the deaths of eight soldiers and nine militants in the Tirah area of ​​the province, the officer said.

The Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), also known as the Pakistani Taliban, later claimed responsibility for that attack, saying it was in response to a search by security forces that targeted one of its fighters.

Seven police officers were taken hostage in the explosion at the checkpoint in Bannu on Monday, but were released less than a day later.

Their release came after negotiations between a jirga (or tribal council) and the kidnappers.

“All kidnapped police officers have been released after successful negotiations led by local elders with militants,” senior police official Muhammad Zia ud-Din told AFP.

He declined to provide further details.

The TTP is separate from the Hafiz Gul Bahadur group, but both have been active since 2001 in supporting the Afghan Taliban in their war against the US-led NATO coalition.

The Afghan Taliban regained power in Kabul in 2021, and since then there has been a resurgence of violence in Pakistan’s border areas.

The TTP claimed an attack that killed 10 police officers at a checkpoint in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in late October.

Seven soldiers were killed at a border post in southwestern Pakistan on Saturday by separatist fighters from the Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA) group.

The incident happened a week after Bombings by the same group killed 26 peopleincluding 14 soldiers, at a train station in the provincial capital Quetta.