Two children killed, several injured in North Waziristan madrassah blast

• Army continues clearing contaminated land across KP: sources.
• Blast linked to militants’ abandoned explosive materials.
• Demining operations progressing despite difficult terrain: sources.

Two children were killed, and eight others sustained injuries when an explosion ripped through a madrassah in the Isori village of North Waziristan’s Mir Ali area, security sources said on Thursday.

According to sources, the incident occurred when children "inadvertently triggered explosive material left behind by khawarij militants", who had planted improvised devices to obstruct the movement of security forces.

The security sources said that 114 square kilometres in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa had previously been identified as "contaminated" with improvised explosive devices (IEDs) and mines.

The Pakistan Army has so far cleared 82 square kilometres, they added.

The sources further said demining work across the remaining areas of the province was "underway at an accelerated pace."

Children playing with explosives, thinking they are toys, is not a new phenomenon.

In August 2025, five children were killed and 13 others, including two women, sustained injuries in an explosion caused by a mortar shell in the Langerkhel Surband area of Lakki Marwat district.

Police and rescue officials said that a group of children found a mortar round in nearby fields and brought it back to their village.

The shell exploded when the kids started playing with it near a rainwater-filled underground tank. As a result of the explosion, five children died on the spot while 13 others sustained injuries.