Ittihadul Mujahideen Pakistan (IMP), led by Hafiz Gulbahadar, claimed responsibility for the suicide bombing in Bannu district, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, Pakistan, that killed Lieutenant Colonel Shazada Gul and two soldiers between 11:45 AM and 1:45 PM UTC on February 21, 2026, according to a statement reported by TKD Monitoring on X at 3:22 PM UTC. The subgroup Majlis-e-Askari Karwan identified the bomber as Khalid bin Waleed. IMP's Hafiz Gulbahadar-led conglomerate published the claim during the reporting window from 2:15 PM to 3:45 PM UTC, as cited in the X post by @khorasandiary. The attack involved a bomber ramming an explosives-laden motorcycle rickshaw into a military vehicle during an intelligence operation in Sra Darga area, per prior official sources. Pakistan's Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) earlier accused the Afghan Taliban regime of enabling such attacks from Afghan soil and signaled strikes inside Afghanistan, as stated in ISPR statements cited by Wajahat Kazmi on X before this window. ISPR reiterated violations of Ramadan sanctity by terrorists using Afghan territory, according to Dawn.com.
