Before dawn on Monday, September 22, 2025, a massive explosion tore through a compound nestled in the rugged Tirah Valley of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, northwest Pakistan. The blast killed at least 24 people, including 14 militants and 10 civilians—women and children among them—according to police and security officials cited by the Associated Press and other outlets. The incident has since become the center of a maelstrom of accusations, government denials, and public outrage, laying bare the region's volatile mix of militancy, military operations, and civilian vulnerability.
Official accounts from local authorities, including Station House Officer Zafar Khan of the Tirah police, maintain that the explosion was triggered by bomb-making materials stored at the compound by Pakistani Taliban fighters. "The explosives used in bomb making exploded, causing the death of 24 people, including 14 militants," Khan told reporters, as quoted by AP and OneIndia. Security officials, speaking anonymously to the Associated Press, dismissed rumors of an airstrike, insisting the blast was an accident involving munitions stockpiled by militants themselves. They said the explosion originated in a facility used as an improvised explosive device (IED) factory, causing shockwaves that destroyed several nearby homes and left more dead in its wake.
But this official narrative has not gone unchallenged. Local lawmaker Suhail Afridi took to the provincial assembly to claim that the deaths were, in fact, the result of airstrikes by Pakistani jets late Sunday night. According to Afridi, all those killed were civilians, and the government was responsible for what he described as a "crime against humanity." His impassioned speech echoed across the valley and online, as thousands attended funerals for the deceased and staged rallies demanding justice and accountability from the state. "If in Tirah Akakhel, our own protectors have mercilessly martyred innocent children, youth, and women, staining the earth with blood, this is an open crime against humanity," Afridi declared in remarks reported by NDTV and OneIndia. He called on international human rights organizations to intervene and condemned what he described as "state oppression" and a "minor apocalypse" for the people of Upper Tirah Akakhel.
Adding to the confusion, the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan said it was "deeply shocked to learn that a number of civilians, including children, have been killed, allegedly as a result of aerial bombing" in the Tirah Valley. The group urged authorities to launch a transparent investigation and take appropriate action against those responsible. Meanwhile, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf's (PTI) Khyber Pakhtunkhwa chapter also condemned the strikes, reporting on X (formerly Twitter) that "five houses of local citizens were destroyed, and according to local sources, 20 bodies have been recovered from the rubble so far, including children and women among the martyrs." The PTI post added, "I have no words that can encompass this sorrow and grief. Sometimes drones, sometimes bombings have sown so many seeds of hatred that when this lava erupts, nothing will be left."
Despite the outcry, Pakistan's military and federal government have remained silent, offering neither confirmation nor denial of the alleged airstrikes. Security officials, however, have stuck to their version: the blast was the tragic result of unsafe storage of explosives by militants. They allege that the facility was operated by two Pakistani Taliban commanders, Aman Gul and Masood Khan, who had established it as a hub for IED production and sniper training. According to police statements, the militants had embedded themselves within civilian populations and, in some cases, used civilians as "human shields." Zafar Khan, the local police officer, accused the Taliban of hiding weapons in mosques in other districts, further complicating efforts to root out militancy without harming innocents.
The explosion, whether accidental or the result of military action, underscores a broader and deeply troubling trend in the region. Since the return of the Afghan Taliban to power in Kabul in 2021, Pakistan has witnessed a sharp increase in militant attacks, most claimed by the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP)—an armed group allied with the Afghan Taliban. The TTP, while a separate organization, has been emboldened by the developments across the border, with many of its leaders and fighters believed to have found sanctuary in Afghanistan. The group has established a network of hideouts and bomb-making facilities throughout northwest Pakistan, making security operations in the region both urgent and perilous.
Pakistani security forces have responded with a series of military operations in Khyber, Bajaur, and other tribal districts. The operation in Bajaur, which began in August, displaced hundreds of thousands of people, though most have since returned after the military cleared large swaths of territory. But the threat remains. Militants continue to stockpile explosives in residential areas, and the risk of further accidental detonations—or collateral damage from counterterrorism operations—remains high.
The events in Tirah Valley have laid bare the human cost of this grinding conflict. Civilians, often caught in the crossfire or used as shields by militants, bear the brunt of the violence. The destruction of homes and the deaths of women and children have fueled anger and despair among local communities, many of whom feel abandoned or targeted by both militants and the state. As one local resident lamented at a funeral, "The valley where children once laughed heartily is now filled with their tiny corpses... This is open tyranny."
The tragedy has also reignited a debate over the conduct of Pakistan's military and security forces, the tactics of the Taliban, and the broader strategy for countering militancy in the region. Critics argue that heavy-handed operations and alleged airstrikes risk alienating local populations and driving more recruits into the arms of extremist groups. Others maintain that decisive action is necessary to dismantle the TTP's infrastructure and restore order to Pakistan's restive northwest.
For now, the people of Tirah Valley are left to mourn their dead and demand answers. Whether the explosion was an accident or the result of a military strike, the facts remain grim: dozens of lives lost, families shattered, and a community once again thrust into the center of a conflict that shows no signs of abating. As the dust settles, the need for accountability, transparency, and a renewed commitment to protecting civilians has never been more urgent.