Rival Khawarij factions escalated a two-day conflict over extortion from Central Kurram to Orakzai on February 21, 2026, with mortar shelling by Fitna-ul-Khawarij killing four civilians and injuring several others in civilian areas during the 59-minute reporting window ending at 5:15 PM UTC, according to a report by Mohsin Dawar on X. Clashes involved heavy weaponry between the Kazim group from Kurram and Khawarij factions from Khyber and Tirah. Following the death of a civilian, some individuals attacked and fired upon a military post in Orakzai, where security forces exercised restraint and did not retaliate to avoid civilian casualties, as stated in the X post by @Mohsin_o2 at an unspecified time within the window. Local residents reported severe disruptions to civilian life from the infighting. Separately, Majlis-e-Askari Karwan, acting on behalf of Ittihadul Mujahideen Pakistan (IMP), identified the suicide bomber in the earlier Bannu attack as Muhammad bin Qasim, according to TKD Monitoring on X during the reporting window from 4:15 PM to 5:15 PM UTC. This updates prior identification of the bomber as Khalid bin Waleed in the Sra Darga area attack that killed Lieutenant Colonel Shazada Gul and two soldiers between 11:45 AM and 1:45 PM UTC. The Orakzai escalation follows Pakistan's Navarea warning for naval ships firing issued around 4:00 PM UTC and prior ISPR statements signaling strikes inside Afghanistan in response to the Bannu bombing, accusing the Afghan Taliban regime of enabling attacks from Afghan soil, as cited in earlier reports.
