PESHAWAR: Seven people were killed and over a dozen injured on Monday when a blast targeted the offices of a pro-government peace committee in Pakistan’s northwest, police said, as rescue teams attempted to reach those trapped under the rubble.

The blast took place in Wana, a city in South Waziristan district in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) province bordering Afghanistan, and hit the offices of a government-backed peace committee on Monday afternoon, killing seven and injuring at least 16, South Waziristan police spokesperson Habib Islam told Arab News. 

Such committees often comprise local tribal leaders who publicly oppose the Pakistani Taliban militants, also known as the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), a group that has claimed responsibility for some of the deadliest attacks in Pakistan. While no group has claimed responsibility for the latest attack, suspicion is likely to fall on the TTP.

“Details into the casualties are still coming because two offices of the peace committee commander Saifur Rehman collapsed due to the intensity of the blast,” Islam told Arab News. “A number of people are trapped under the rubble.”

He said it was as yet unclear if this was a suicide attack or the explosion was triggered by a remote-controlled device.

Tribal elder Almir Khan Wazir said two commanders of the peace committee, Rehman and Tehsil Wazir, were in critical condition. 

“They were rushed to the District Headquarters Hospital in critical condition,” Wazir said.

The blast took place as Pakistan’s military said 71 militants had been killed in a number of armed operations in the nearby North Waziristan district in the last three days. 

Pakistan blames the Taliban government in Afghanistan for providing sanctuary to TTP militants, threatening cross-border action unless Kabul withdraws its support for militant groups. Afghanistan denies the allegations and has urged Pakistan to resolve its security challenges internally.

NEW DELHI: India launched a sweeping crackdown on social media on Monday, banning more than a dozen Pakistani YouTube channels for allegedly spreading “provocative” content following an attack in Kashmir.

The banned platforms include the YouTube channels of Pakistani news outlets Dawn, Samaa TV, ARY News, Bol News, Raftar, Geo News and Suno News.

The sites were blocked in India on Monday, with a message reading it was due to an “order from the government related to national security or public order.”

The Press Trust of India news agency, which listed 16 channels, cited a government statement saying they were blocked for “disseminating provocative and communally sensitive content, false and misleading narratives and misinformation against India.”

The ban follows the deadly April 22 shooting that targeted tourists in Pahalgam in Indian-administered Kashmir. Twenty-six men were killed in the attack, the worst on civilians in the contested region for a quarter of a century.

India has accused Pakistan of supporting “cross-border terrorism” but Islamabad has denied any role in the attack.

The information ministry also issued an advisory notice on Saturday calling on journalists and social media users to “exercise utmost responsibility” while reporting on matters “concerning defense and other security related operations.”

The advisory note, which cited previous cases of conflict with Pakistan including fighting in 1999 at Kargil, warned that “premature disclosure of sensitive information may inadvertently assist hostile elements and endanger operational effectiveness.”

Indian social media accounts have also been awash with comments on the killings at Pahalgam, with hashtags including #WarWithPakistan and #FinishPakistan trending on social media platform X.