Pakistan Air Force drops bombs on Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, 30 dead, says report — ‘civilians killed’

At least 30 people, including children and women, were killed in airstrikes allegedly carried out by the Pakistan Air Force in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province on Monday, NDTV reported.

Several reports claimed that the Pakistan Air Force dropped at least eight LS-6 bombs on the Matre Dara village located in the Tirah Valley at around 2am. Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) militants were the target of the attack.

According to Pakistan's opposition party Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf's (PTI) Khyber Pakhtunkhwa chapter, multiple bombs struck the civilians during the airstrike, destroying five houses and killing civilians, including women and children.

“During the jet aircraft bombing in the Tirah Valley of Khyber, several bombs fell on the local population. Five houses of local citizens were destroyed, and according to local sources, 20 bodies have been recovered from the rubble so far, including children and women among the martyrs,” PTI Khyber Pakhtunkhwa said in a post on X.

"I have no words that can encompass this sorrow and grief Sometimes drones, sometimes bombings have sown so many seeds of hatred that when this lava erupts, nothing will be left," it added.

No statement has been issued by the Pakistan government regarding the bombing so far.

Pakistani Taliban's compound bombed

Meanwhile, the the Associated Press reported that at least 24 people were killed in an explosion that took place at a compound in the Tirah Valley of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province in Pakistan on Monday.

According to police, bomb-making material allegedly stored at a compound by Pakistani Taliban fighters exploded on Monday in the country’s restive northwest.

Several nearby homes were destroyed in the explosion.

Local police officer Zafar Khan was quoted by the Associated Press as saying that at least 10 civilians, including women and children, were killed, along with at least 14 militants.

Khan alleged that two local Pakistani Taliban commanders, Aman Gul and Masood Khan, had established hideouts in the compound, which was being used as a factory for producing roadside bombs.

He accused the militants of using civilians as human shields and said they had recently stored weapons in mosques in other districts.

Pakistan’s security forces are carrying out operations against the Pakistani Taliban in Khyber, Bajaur and other parts of the northwest.

Pakistan has seen a surge in militant attacks, most claimed by the Pakistani Taliban, known as Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan or TTP, who are allied with the Afghan Taliban.

The TTP is a separate group but has been emboldened since the Afghan Taliban’s return to power in 2021. Many TTP leaders and fighters are believed to have found sanctuary in Afghanistan.

(With inputs from agencies)