At least 30 people, mostly civilians, were reportedly killed on Monday in Pakistan’s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province after a blast rocked the remote Tirah Valley, according to CNN-News18. The explosion occurred during a Pakistan military operation targeting Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) hideouts in the region, highlighting the growing security challenges in the country’s northwest.

Local police officials said the blast was triggered by bomb-making materials allegedly stored by TTP militants inside a compound. The explosion caused significant damage, flattening several nearby homes and killing both militants and civilians. Rescue operations are ongoing, and authorities fear the death toll may rise as more victims are pulled from the debris.

Zafar Khan, a senior local police officer, told reporters that at least 14 militants were among the dead. The compound, he said, was being used as a makeshift bomb factory by two local TTP commanders — Aman Gul and Masood Khan — who had recently established hideouts in the area. He also accused the militants of using civilians as human shields and said that similar weapons stockpiles had been placed in mosques in nearby districts.

Heart-wrenching videos shared on social media showed injured children lying on makeshift beds as residents surveyed the destruction. Among the casualties were several women and children, underscoring the toll that ongoing militant activity and military responses continue to take on innocent lives.

This incident comes just a day after Pakistan’s military announced it had killed seven TTP fighters in an intelligence-based operation in the Dera Ismail Khan district, which borders South Waziristan. Earlier this month, on September 13 and 14, security forces claimed to have killed at least 31 militants in separate engagements in the province.

Pakistan has witnessed a sharp spike in terrorist activity in recent years, with most attacks claimed by the TTP. Although the group is distinct from the Afghan Taliban, the TTP has grown increasingly bold since the Taliban’s return to power in Afghanistan in 2021. Many of its fighters and leaders are believed to be operating from sanctuaries across the Afghan border, complicating counter-terrorism efforts.