UPPER SOUTH WAZIRISTAN: A peace committee member was killed and eight others were injured when an improvised explosive device (IED) exploded in Makeen Bazaar in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Upper South Waziristan district on Friday.
Dera Ismail Khan Regional Police Officer (RPO) Ghulam Mubashir Makin told Dawn that the IED had been attached to a motorcycle by unidentified people.
He said the device exploded at around 10:45am, injuring nine people in the busy market.
He said three peace committee members — Inayatullah, Sharat Khan and Bangi Khan — were among the nine injured in the blast.
TTP ‘commander’ supposedly gunned down by his own outfit in South Waziristan
The injured peace committee members were taken to the Razmak Hospital for further treatment, while the rest of the injured were taken to a local health facility, he said.
Later, Deputy Superintendent of Police Hidayatullah told Dawn that Inayatullah died while being taken to the hospital.
RPO Makin said that the IED blast damaged several shops in the market and destroyed merchandise and other items inside.
After the explosion, he said, police cordoned off the area and launched a search operation. Security was tightened in and around the market, while security personnel conducted a search for evidence and possible suspects.
He said police have registered a preliminary report and launched an investigation into the incident. He said that different aspects of the blast were being examined to identify those responsible.
The incident comes amid growing concern over the deteriorating law and order situation in Upper South Waziristan and Lower South Waziristan.
Residents have expressed serious concern over the increasing insecurity, frequent bomb blasts, targeted killings, kidnappings for ransom, extortion demands against traders and attacks on police and security forces.
On Wednesday, armed men had attacked a member of a local peace committee in the Sararogha tehsil of Upper South Waziristan. A police official was martyred in the attack, while the peace committee volunteer suffered injuries.
TTP ‘commander’ gunned down
Separately, a commander of the banned Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) was killed, supposedly by his own outfit, in the Shawal area of Upper South Waziristan, local sources said on Friday.
He was identified as Fazal Wazir Sarkaikhel, a resident of Azam Warsak in the Birmal tehsil of Lower South Waziristan.
He was accused of involvement in extortion, unlawful killings, harming civilians and other criminal activities, local sources said.
The circumstances surrounding his killing, as well as the allegations levelled against him, could not be independently verified. Sources claimed that he had imposed various restrictions on locals and attempted to influence their daily lives.
Published in Dawn, August 29th, 2026
