PESHAWAR/QUETTA: At least six Pakistani security personnel and six militants were killed in an hours-long gunbattle at a paramilitary compound in Pakistan’s northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) province, police and health officials said on Tuesday, with another five people killed in a blast in the southwestern city of Quetta.

Militants rammed an explosive-laden vehicle into the gate of the Federal Constabulary (FC) Lines before attempting to enter the compound in KP’s Bannu district on Tuesday morning, according to Bannu police spokesperson Bashir Khan.

Intense gunfire erupted as police and paramilitary personnel engaged the attackers, with security personnel managing to kill all six assailants and clearing the compound after nearly 12 hours.

“Prompt response from the FC, police, and army units ensured that the terrorists were contained and neutralized,” Bannu Regional Police Officer (RPO) Aamir Khan told Arab News on Tuesday night.

“The attack resulted in the martyrdom of five FC personnel and one army official, while 16 security personnel and three civilians sustained injuries,” he said, adding the explosives-laden vehicle used in the attack caused significant infrastructural damage to the compound.

Bannu has witnessed a sharp rise in militant violence in recent months, including quadcopter attacks on security personnel.

No group immediately claimed responsibility for Tuesday’s attack, though the Pakistani Taliban, or the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), have in the past claimed similar assaults on security forces in the province.

Militant attacks across Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, which borders Afghanistan, have surged since November 2022, when a fragile truce between the Pakistani Taliban and the government in Islamabad collapsed.

QUETTA BLAST

Hours later, a blast apparently targeted a Balochistan National Party-Mengal (BNP-M) rally in Quetta, the capital of the southwestern Balochistan province, killing at least five people and leaving another two dozen people injured, police and health officials said. The rally was organized to mark the 4th death anniversary of former BNP-M leader Attaullah Mengal.

Dr. Hadi Kakar, the Civil Hospital medical superintendent, confirmed to Arab News they received five bodies and 24 injured of the blast.

“We have received five dead bodies of Shahwani Stadium blast,” he said. “Six critically injured persons have been shifted to the Combined Military Hospital.”

Senior Superintendent of Police Muhammad Baloch said initial investigation suggested it was a suicide attack.

“The blast occurred after the leadership of Balochistan National Party-Mengal left the Shahwani Stadium,” he told Arab News.

No group immediately claimed the attack on BNP-M rally.

Balochistan, Pakistan’s largest but most impoverished province, has been the site of a long-running insurgency that has intensified in recent months, with separatist militants attacking security forces, government officials and installations and people from other provinces who they see as “outsiders.” The TTP and Daesh also maintain some presence in the restive, mineral-rich region.

Pakistan accuses the TTP of operating from sanctuaries in Afghanistan, a charge rejected by Kabul, which insists Islamabad should deal with its internal security issues. Tensions over the cross-border violence have strained relations between the two neighbors. Pakistan also accuses India of backing the TTP and separatist groups in KP and Balochistan, allegations New Delhi denies.

Earlier this year, militants stormed a military compound in Bannu, killing at least 15 people and injuring another 25, security and health officials said. In December 2022, militants overran a counter-terrorism center in the same district, taking hostages before security forces retook the compound after an operation.