ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan army said on Tuesday that at least 15 people, including 10 soldiers, were killed in two separate attacks in the volatile northwest bordering Afghanistan and added that security forces killed all 13 assailants in the ensuing gunfights.
Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), the army’s media wing, reported that two female health workers, two children, and a security guard were killed when terrorists stormed a rural medical facility in militancy-hit Dera Ismail Khan district on Tuesday.Pakistani forces, the ISPR said, “effectively engaged” the assailants, killing three of them and losing two soldiers in the clashes.
The announcement came just hours after the military confirmed the deaths of at least eight soldiers in a pre-dawn militant raid against an army base in the garrison town of Bannu on Monday. It stated that security forces killed all 10 assailants in the ensuing gunfight.
The attack on Bannu cantonment, the ISPR said, had been orchestrated by militants based in Afghanistan. “The attempt to enter the cantonment was effectively thwarted by security forces personnel, which forced the terrorists to ram an explosives-laden vehicle into the perimeter wall of the cantonment,” ISPR said.
It added that the suicide car bombing destroyed a portion of the wall and damaged adjoining infrastructure, resulting in the deaths of the eight soldiers.“In the ensuing operation, our troops effectively engaged the terrorists as a result of which all 10 terrorists were sent to hell,” the army said. “This timely and effective response by the security forces prevented a major catastrophe, saving precious innocent lives,” it added.
Locals said the blast was heard miles away and caused damage to nearby houses and shops. They said they saw black smoke billowing above the site and heard gunshots in the cantonment area.
A militant outfit allied with the globally designated terrorist group Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) took responsibility for the attack shortly after it started.
The ISPR statement attributed the assault to the Hafiz Gul Bahadur group which, according to it, operates from Afghanistan and has used Afghan soil to orchestrate acts of terrorism inside Pakistan in the past.
Bannu and adjoining districts in the border province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa have particularly seen frequent TTP attacks targeting military and police forces since the Taliban reclaimed power in Afghanistan three years ago.
Pakistan maintains TTP leaders and fighters are being increasingly facilitated by the de facto rulers of Afghanistan. The Taliban govt dismisses the allegations, saying TTP is an internal problem for Pakistan to deal with.
There has been a sharp rise in terror incidents since PM Shehbaz Sharif announced anewmilitary offensive against militancy and extremism in the country’s northwestern and southwestern border regions. The announcement was vehemently resisted by Pashtun and Baloch leaderships in Baluchistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa provinces through public protests, rallies and digital media campaigns.
Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), the army’s media wing, reported that two female health workers, two children, and a security guard were killed when terrorists stormed a rural medical facility in militancy-hit Dera Ismail Khan district on Tuesday.Pakistani forces, the ISPR said, “effectively engaged” the assailants, killing three of them and losing two soldiers in the clashes.
The announcement came just hours after the military confirmed the deaths of at least eight soldiers in a pre-dawn militant raid against an army base in the garrison town of Bannu on Monday. It stated that security forces killed all 10 assailants in the ensuing gunfight.
The attack on Bannu cantonment, the ISPR said, had been orchestrated by militants based in Afghanistan. “The attempt to enter the cantonment was effectively thwarted by security forces personnel, which forced the terrorists to ram an explosives-laden vehicle into the perimeter wall of the cantonment,” ISPR said.
It added that the suicide car bombing destroyed a portion of the wall and damaged adjoining infrastructure, resulting in the deaths of the eight soldiers.“In the ensuing operation, our troops effectively engaged the terrorists as a result of which all 10 terrorists were sent to hell,” the army said. “This timely and effective response by the security forces prevented a major catastrophe, saving precious innocent lives,” it added.
Locals said the blast was heard miles away and caused damage to nearby houses and shops. They said they saw black smoke billowing above the site and heard gunshots in the cantonment area.
A militant outfit allied with the globally designated terrorist group Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) took responsibility for the attack shortly after it started.
The ISPR statement attributed the assault to the Hafiz Gul Bahadur group which, according to it, operates from Afghanistan and has used Afghan soil to orchestrate acts of terrorism inside Pakistan in the past.
Bannu and adjoining districts in the border province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa have particularly seen frequent TTP attacks targeting military and police forces since the Taliban reclaimed power in Afghanistan three years ago.
Pakistan maintains TTP leaders and fighters are being increasingly facilitated by the de facto rulers of Afghanistan. The Taliban govt dismisses the allegations, saying TTP is an internal problem for Pakistan to deal with.
There has been a sharp rise in terror incidents since PM Shehbaz Sharif announced anewmilitary offensive against militancy and extremism in the country’s northwestern and southwestern border regions. The announcement was vehemently resisted by Pashtun and Baloch leaderships in Baluchistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa provinces through public protests, rallies and digital media campaigns.