Khyber Pakhtunkhwa [Pakistan], January 24 (ANI): A suicide bombing struck a wedding gathering in northwestern Pakistan, killing at least seven people, police confirmed.

The attack occurred on Friday during a wedding ceremony in Dera Ismail Khan district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province. A building collapsed after the blast, according to local police official Muhammad Adnan, who said the structure was being used by members of a peace committee at the time of the incident, reported by Al Jazeera.

Initially, three fatalities were reported at the scene. Adnan later said that four additional victims, who had been critically injured, died after being taken to the hospital.

Peace committees in the region are made up of local residents and tribal elders and receive support from the federal government as part of its strategy to counter armed groups operating near the Afghan border.

The bombing comes amid heightened military activity, as Pakistan's armed forces prepare operations against militant groups in border areas with Afghanistan. The security situation has already displaced thousands of civilians, many of whom have been forced to flee their homes during severe winter conditions.

No group has yet claimed responsibility for the attack. However, suspicion is expected to fall on the Pakistani Taliban, also known as Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), which has carried out a series of deadly assaults across the country in recent years.

The TTP, active on both sides of the Pakistan-Afghanistan border, has previously targeted peace committee members, whom it accuses of cooperating with the state. The group seeks to overthrow Pakistan's current system of governance and impose its own interpretation of Islamic law, as reported by Al Jazeera.

Since the Afghan Taliban returned to power in 2021 following the withdrawal of US and NATO forces, the TTP has grown more active. Pakistani authorities say many of the group's leaders and fighters have found refuge in Afghanistan. Islamabad has accused the Afghan Taliban of allowing the TTP to plan cross-border attacks, an allegation Kabul rejects, maintaining that the issue is an internal matter for Pakistan. (ANI)