A young girl lost her life and two other children sustained injuries when a hand grenade detonated by the roadside in Peshawar’s Faqirabad area on Wednesday, according to police officials. Superintendent of Police (SP) Hamid Ehsan confirmed that the explosion occurred in the Saeedabad locality, where a group of children had been playing with the explosive device. The clip of the grenade was recovered from the scene, he added.
Police Investigation Underway
SP Ehsan stated that the two injured children were immediately rushed to a nearby hospital for medical treatment. He further noted that an investigation has been launched to determine how the hand grenade came into the area and whether any negligence or criminal involvement contributed to the incident. The authorities are examining all possible angles, including the possibility of the device being left behind by militants or mishandled.
The blast adds to the growing security concerns in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P), a province that has seen a surge in militant violence in recent years. According to SP Ehsan, the police are working diligently to trace the origin of the grenade and prevent such tragedies in the future.
Drone Strike in Bajaur District
Earlier on the same day, three people were killed and eight others wounded when a suspected drone struck a residential house in Bajaur district. The incident took place at Pakistan Chowk in the Shinkot area of Mamund tehsil, where the house of Syed Wali Jan, son of Ajab Khan, was hit. The origin of the quadcopter and those responsible for the attack remained unknown, echoing a similar incident in May when two schoolchildren were killed in a drone strike in the Shah Tangi area of Mamund tehsil.
In that same month, three people had also been injured in another drone attack on a cricket ground in the region. These repeated drone strikes have raised questions about security and the presence of unmanned aerial vehicles in the area, with local authorities struggling to identify the perpetrators.
Rise in Militant Violence Across K-P
K-P remains a key focus of Pakistan's counterterrorism efforts, with security forces regularly conducting operations against militants. The province witnessed a significant rise in militant violence last year, with more than 500 attacks reported, marking a 50% increase compared to the previous year. According to a security assessment obtained by The Express Tribune, K-P recorded 1,588 terrorism-related incidents, underscoring the growing militant threat across both settled and tribal districts.
Despite the increase in attacks, security forces reportedly thwarted 320 major strikes, while 137 police personnel were killed in the line of duty. Joint operations by the K-P Police, the Counter Terrorism Department (CTD), and other security agencies led to the arrest of 1,244 suspected militants, while 420 militants were killed in intelligence-based operations.
Districts Most Affected by Militant Violence
Bannu, Dera Ismail Khan, Lakki Marwat, Hangu, and Peshawar were among the districts most affected by militant violence, with the report noting a pattern of attacks allegedly planned and launched from across the Afghan border. The CTD report also recorded a 56% increase in attacks targeting police personnel, rising from 327 in 2024 to 510 in 2025. During the year, security agencies conducted 2,791 search operations and identified 25 foreign militant operatives, while extortion networks operating in Peshawar and other districts were dismantled, according to the report.
The latest grenade explosion in Peshawar and the drone strike in Bajaur highlight the ongoing security challenges in K-P, where both conventional and unconventional threats continue to endanger civilian lives.
