Eleven security personnel, one child killed in militant attack in Pakistan
Military says 12 militants were killed as forces repelled an attack on a joint check post in Bajaur district
Aamir Abbasi
Editor, Islamabad
Aamir; a journalist with 15 years of experience, working in Newspaper, TV and Digital Media. Worked in Field, covered Big Legal Constitutional and Political Events in Pakistan since 2009 with Pakistan’s Top Media Organizations. Graduate of Quaid I Azam University Islamabad.
Eleven Pakistani security personnel were killed after militants rammed an explosive-laden vehicle into a joint check post in the northwestern Bajaur District, the military said Tuesday.
The attack took place late Monday when militants targeted a joint post of security forces and law enforcement agencies in Bajaur, a tribal district bordering Afghanistan, according to the military’s media wing, Inter-Services Public Relations.
The military said troops repelled the assault and killed 12 militants during an exchange of fire as the attackers attempted to flee.
ISPR said the attackers belonged to Fitna al Khwarij, the term used by the military to refer to Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan. The military described the group as operating as an Indian proxy.
According to ISPR, the attackers drove a vehicle packed with explosives into the perimeter wall of the check post. The blast caused significant structural damage and led to the collapse of parts of the facility.
“As a result of the explosion, eleven brave sons of the soil embraced martyrdom in the line of duty,” ISPR said in a statement.
The explosion also damaged nearby civilian homes. ISPR said a young girl was killed and seven other civilians, including women and children, were injured.
Security forces have launched search and clearance operations in the area to ensure no militants remain, the military said.
The armed forces said counterterrorism operations under the framework of “Azm-e-Istehkam,” approved by Pakistan’s Federal Apex Committee under the National Action Plan, would continue to eliminate what it described as foreign-sponsored militancy.
Pakistan has seen a rise in militant attacks in recent years in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, particularly in former tribal districts along the Afghan border.
Islamabad has said the TTP operates from sanctuaries inside Afghanistan, a claim rejected by Afghan authorities, who say they do not allow their territory to be used for attacks on other countries.
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