At least 24 people were killed in northwest Pakistan today in a suicide attack on an army compound claimed by an organization linked to the Pakistani Taliban, an official said on condition of anonymity.

The attack, in which Islamist militants first stormed a truck full of explosives and then others attacked a police station used as a base by the army, took place overnight in the Dera Ismail Khan district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, near border with Afghanistan, according to two other security officials. Attacks have increased in this area in recent months.

“Many were killed in their sleep and they are wearing civilian clothes, so we are still trying to clarify if they are all military,” according to the first official.

At least 27 people were injured, he said.

Some people were injured as well are in critical condition, State First Aid Service official Aizaz Mehmood said at the same time.

“We are still hearing gunshots,” he added.

Tehreek-i-Jihad Pakistan (TJP), a new group affiliated with the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), claimed responsibility for the attack.

The Pakistani military has so far not commented on the attack and there is no official confirmation of the death toll.

Interior Minister Sarfraz Bugti condemned the attack and expressed sorrow for the dead, according to a statement issued by his office.

Pakistan has been dealing for months, especially after the Taliban returned to power in Kabul in August 2021, which has worsened security, especially in the border areas with Afghanistan.

According to Islamabad, some of these attacks are planned from Afghan soil, which Kabul denies.

The TTP has increased its attacks, which have mainly targeted security forces, especially the police, since it withdrew in November 2022 from a fragile ceasefire.

The TTP, which though not affiliated with the Afghan Taliban it shares the same fundamentalist Islamist ideology with them, he appeared in Pakistan in 2007.

In less than a decade it has killed thousands of Pakistani civilians and members of the security forces before being driven out of tribal areas by a military operation launched in 2014 that saw an improvement in security for some years.