PESHAWAR: Militants gunned down three personnel of the federal constabulary (FC) paramilitary force after a quadcopter attack on its camp in Pakistan’s northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) province, a police official said on Monday.
The explosive-laden quadcopter struck the FC camp in the Bahadur Khel area of KP’s Karak district early Monday morning and injured seven FC troops, according to Karak police spokesperson Shaukat Khan.
Three FC personnel were killed when militants attacked a Rescue 1122 ambulance which was transporting the injured troops to a hospital following the attack.
“With this incident, the total number of FC personnel martyred has risen to three, while five others, including a member of the rescue team, were injured,” Khan told Arab News.
No group immediately claimed responsibility for the attack. However, Pakistani officials have said in the past that armed groups, particularly the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), are increasingly using commercial drones modified to drop explosives, alongside other weapons they say were acquired after the US military withdrawal from neighboring Afghanistan.
“A search operation is currently underway to trace those responsible,” Khan added.
SUICIDE BOMBER AMONG 5 KILLED IN SOUTHWEST
Separately, Pakistani security forces killed five militants, including a suicide bomber, during an intelligence-based operation in the country’s southwestern Balochistan province, the military’s media wing said on Monday.
The operation took place in Balochistan’s Pishin district after security forces received reports about the presence of TTP militants.
“After an intense fire exchange, suicide bomber kharji [militant] cowardly blew himself up and four other Indian-sponsored khwarij were hunted down,” the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) said, adding that security forces recovered weapons, ammunition and explosives from the site and that the slain militants had been involved in numerous “terrorist activities.”
The TTP has carried out some of the deadliest attacks against civilians and law enforcement agencies in Pakistan since 2007 in its bid to impose its own brand of Islamic law in the country.
Pakistan says TTP, Daesh and ethnic Baloch separatist outfits enjoy sanctuary in Afghanistan from where they launch attacks against its territory. Afghanistan denies the allegations and calls on Islamabad to address its security challenges without involving Kabul.
Pakistan carried out intelligence-based strikes on alleged militant camps and hideouts in Afghanistan’s Nangarhar, Paktika and Khost provinces on Saturday, a security official said. The official said more than 80 militants were killed in the attacks, a claim denied by the Afghan Taliban who said Islamabad killed and wounded dozens of civilians in the strikes.
The strikes have increased tensions between the neighbors, with Afghanistan warning it will retaliate at a “suitable time.” Islamabad also accuses India of arming and funding militant groups that carry out attacks in Pakistan, a charge New Delhi rejects.
