Tuesday, July 2, 2024
Year : 2, Issue: 28
Two separate attacks by militants on an army base and a health centre in northwest Pakistan killed 28 people, including 10 soldiers as well as female health workers and children, the military said on Tuesday.
The attacks, both of which occurred on Monday, coincide with a resurgence of Islamist militancy in the northwest border region with Afghanistan, which last month prompted the government to start a counter-insurgency operation in the area.
Militants targeted the base in Bannu, on the border with the tribal area of North Waziristan, which is known as a hotbed of Islamist militancy, and is close to the Afghanistan border. Security forces killed all 10 assailants involved, the military said in a statement.
Among the dead in Monday’s attack were seven army soldiers and one paramilitary soldier.
The British colonial-era military base has historically been used as a launch pad for anti-militant operations, and is surrounded by civilian dwellings, which were shaken by the loud explosion from Monday’s blast, two local officials told Reuters.
The attack was claimed by the Hafiz Gul Bahadur Group, which the military said operates out of neighbouring Afghanistan “to orchestrate acts of terrorism inside Pakistan”.
A spokesman for Afghanistan’s Taliban administration did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.
Islamabad says it has consistently taken up the issue of cross-border attacks with the Taliban administration, which denies allowing Afghan soil to be used for attacks.
Source: Reuters
