Peshawar
Neighboring country Pakistan has once again been shaken by suicide attacks. A suicide bomber rammed a vehicle laden with explosives into a joint check post in the northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, killing 12 security personnel. Giving this information on Wednesday, the Army said that six terrorists have been killed in the encounter that followed. Pakistan Army’s media wing Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) said terrorists tried to attack a joint check post in Malikhel area of Bannu district late on Tuesday night, but security forces effectively foiled their attempt to enter the post. Failed properly.
Media reports said the suicide blast by terrorists caused a portion of the wall to collapse and damage to surrounding infrastructure, resulting in the death of 12 security personnel, including 10 security forces and two Frontier Constabulary personnel. The army said that six terrorists were also killed in the exchange of fire that followed. The injured have been admitted to the local hospital. Hafiz Gul Bahadur armed group claimed responsibility for the attack. There has been a stir in Pakistan due to the death of 18 soldiers in the last 24 hours. There is an atmosphere of panic among the people due to continuous attacks.
The attack comes a day after the country’s civilian and military leadership on Tuesday approved a “massive military operation” against terrorist organizations in Balochistan. Security forces and law enforcement agencies said they are determined to eliminate the menace of terrorism. The entire country, especially in Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa provinces, has seen a sharp increase in terrorism-related incidents in the last year.
Bannu district, where this incident took place, has recently seen an increase in extremist and terrorist violence. This includes kidnapping of policemen, attack on girls’ school and firing. In a press release, Inter-Services Public Relations said that on November 19 (Tuesday), “Khawarij attempted to attack a joint checkpost in Malikhel general area of Bannu district”.
In July, the Pakistani government named the banned terrorist organization Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) as Fitna al Khawarij, and ordered all entities to use the term Khariji (outcast) when referring to terrorist attacks on Pakistan. The ISPR statement said that the attempt to enter the police post was foiled by our own troops, due to which Khawarij rammed the explosives-laden vehicle into the wall of the post.
