ISLAMABAD: Five soldiers and thirteen civilians were killed as militants rammed two explosive-filled vehicles into the boundary wall of a military cantonment in northwestern Pakistan, the army said on Wednesday, as the country faces a surge in terror attacks.
The assault, which involved “multiple suicide blasts,” took place on Tuesday in Bannu, which is in Pakistan’s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province bordering Afghanistan. The military’s media wing said in a statement militants had sought to breach Bannu cantonment’s security, causing the partial collapse of its perimeter wall and damaging nearby buildings.
The KP province has seen a surge in militant attacks in recent years that Pakistan blames on insurgents harboring in Afghanistan. Kabul denies it provides refuge to militants and says Pakistan’s security challenges are a domestic issue.
“Our valiant troops engaged the intruders with precision, eliminating all sixteen terrorists, including four suicide bombers. In this intense exchange of fire, five brave soldiers, after putting up a heroic resistance, embraced martyrdom in the line of duty,” the army said in a statement.
The latest attack occurred in an area adjacent to a local market after sunset, when people were breaking their fast during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan. Video clips circulating on social media showed thick grey plumes of smoke rising into the air as gunshots rang out.
The army said a mosque and a civilian residential building close to the military facility were damaged in the attack, killing thirteen civilians and injuring 32.
Intelligence reports had “unequivocally confirmed the physical involvement of Afghan nationals in this heinous act,” the military said, adding that evidence proved the attack was orchestrated and directed by insurgents operating from Afghanistan.
“Pakistan expects the Interim Afghan Government to uphold its responsibilities and deny its soil for terrorist activities against Pakistan. Pakistan reserves the right to take necessary measures in response to these threats emanating from across the border,” the military concluded.
Jaish-e-Fursan Muhammad, a militant faction affiliated with the Pakistani Taliban (TTP), claimed responsibility for the attack in a statement released to media, saying dozens of security officials had been killed in the assault.
Pakistan has repeatedly accused the Taliban authorities in Kabul of facilitating cross-border militant attacks, a charge Afghan authorities deny.
The TTP was formed in 2007 as an umbrella organization of various hard-line groups operating individually in Pakistan.
The TTP pledges allegiance to, and gets its name from, the Afghan Taliban, but is not directly a part of the group that now rules Afghanistan. Its stated aim is to impose Islamic religious law in Pakistan, as the Taliban have done in Afghanistan.
The TTP is responsible for some of the bloodiest attacks in Pakistan, including on churches and schools and the shooting of Malala Yousafzai, who survived the 2012 attack after she was targeted for her campaign against the Taliban’s efforts to deny women education.
Militants have targeted Bannu several times in the past also. Last November, a suicide car bomb killed 12 troops and wounded several others at a security post. In July, a suicide bomber detonated his explosives-laden vehicle and other militants opened fire near the outer wall of the military facility.
