The suicide bomber responsible for an attack on a wedding ceremony in Dera Ismail Khan that claimed seven lives has been identified, the Counter-Terrorism Department (CTD) said on Sunday.
The bomber, identified as Abdul Rahman, detonated explosives in a guest room during a marriage celebration at the residence of Noor Alam Mehsud, the head of the local peace committee.
The attack occurred late on Friday evening after the guests of the event had gathered for the festivities.
The CTD officials said that a case had been registered under terrorism and related charges.
Forensic teams recovered DNA samples and other evidence from the blast site, which are now being examined as part of the ongoing investigation.
According to the CTD report, Abdul Rahman was raised at an Afghan refugee camp, where he received his early education at non-formal centres and madrassa.
The investigators believed that he fell victim to extremist propaganda during his formative years.
The deceased have been identified as a member of the Peace Committee, Waheedullah Mehsud alias Jigri, Abdul Majeed Lagri Advocate and an unidentified 29-year-old youth.
Peace committee leaders are frequently targeted by militant groups operating in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, which borders Afghanistan as these committees are considered by extremist outfits as collaborators with government security apparatus.
Pakistan has experienced a rise in cross-border terrorist incidents since the Taliban regained control of Afghanistan in 2021.
The provinces of KP and Balochistan, which border Afghanistan, have been particularly affected by these attacks.
ISPR Director General Lieutenant General Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry, in his presser on January 6, said that law enforcement agencies carried out 75,175 IBOs across the country in 2025.
Giving a breakdown, he said 14,658 IBOs were conducted in KP, 58,778 in Balochistan, while 1,739 operations took place in the rest of the country.
Lt Gen Chaudhry said that 5,397 terrorism incidents were reported nationwide during the last year. Of these, 3,811 incidents, he said, occurred in KP, 1,557 in Balochistan, and 29 incidents were reported in other parts of the country.
He said that 2,597 terrorists were killed during counterterror operations last year. While providing details of 10 major terror attacks across the country, he said that civilians and soft targets had been deliberately targeted, and Afghan militants were involved in all attacks.
Pakistan has time and again called on the Afghan Taliban regime in Kabul to prevent its soil from being used by terrorists against Pakistan, and the issue recently resulted in heightened tensions featuring cross-border attacks by the Afghan side, resulting in retaliation from Pakistani forces as well.
