Overview

• Eyewitnesses and some intelligence sources said Pakistan Air Force JF-17 jets dropped at least eight LS-6 glide bombs on Matre Dara around 2 a.m., alleging the strikes flattened homes and left mostly civilian victims.
• Military and police denied any airstrike, asserting that bomb-making materials stored by Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan detonated inside a compound, with police reporting 24 dead including about 14 militants and 10 civilians and naming commanders Aman Gul and Masood Khan.
• Reported death tolls vary across outlets from more than 20 to roughly 30, with multiple accounts stating women and children were among those killed and injured.
• Local outrage grew with protests and tribal jirgas in Khyber district, opposition PTI figures accusing security forces of killing civilians, and the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan urging an immediate, impartial investigation.
• The incident followed a stepped-up campaign against the TTP in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, including security operations that reportedly killed dozens of militants on September 13–14 and seven more on September 20–21 near the Afghan border.