Militants launched two separate quadcopter attacks in Bannu district, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, on Wednesday, killing one woman and injuring three children. According to Bannu District Police Officer (DPO) Saleem Abbas Kulachi, the first attack targeted civilians, killing a woman and injuring her two children along with another child. The victims were taken to a hospital for treatment.
Soon after, a second quadcopter attack was carried out on Meryan Police Station. Militants targeted the rooftop and damaged solar panels, but no police personnel were harmed. DPO Kulachi confirmed that this was the third such attack on the same police station. A search operation is currently underway to trace the attackers.
These incidents follow a growing trend of quadcopter and drone attacks in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan. In March, a suspected drone strike killed 11 people in Mardan. In May, four children died in North Waziristan’s Mir Ali tehsil due to a suspected quadcopter munitions drop, which the military later blamed on the banned Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP).
Terror activities have surged in the region since the TTP ended its ceasefire with the government in November 2022. Bannu, in particular, has seen a spike in attacks in recent months. Just days earlier, armed attackers killed one person and injured three during a jirga in the district.
In March, a deadly terrorist attack on Bannu Cantonment resulted in the deaths of 16 militants, five soldiers, and 13 civilians. The blast also destroyed a mosque and damaged a nearby residential building, injuring 32 more people and causing major structural damage.