Pakistan: Deadly double terror attacks leave 15 dead

Pakistan was hit by two separate terrorist attacks that left 15 people dead, including 10 military personnel and five civilians, including two women. In these violent clashes, security forces responded by killing 13 terrorists.

According to a press release from the Armed Forces Media Department, “in the first attack, a group of 10 militants attempted to enter a cantonment in Bannu in the early hours of July 15.” The Armed Forces Media Department attributed one of the attacks to insurgents based in Afghanistan.

“The attempt to enter the neighborhood was successfully thwarted by security forces, who forced the terrorists to ram a vehicle loaded with explosives into the neighborhood’s perimeter wall. Eight soldiers lost their lives in the explosion, which also caused part of the outer wall to collapse and damaged nearby infrastructure,” the statement continued.

“In the ensuing operation, the troops successfully engaged the terrorists and eliminated all ten terrorists. This timely and effective response by the security forces prevented a major disaster and saved precious innocent lives.”

The Pakistani military said: “The attack was carried out by the Hafiz Gul Bahadur group, a faction of the banned Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) organization. It is allegedly operating from Afghanistan and has previously used Afghan territory to plan attacks in Pakistan.”

Bannu Cantonment is a sensitive area where military offices and police stations are located.

Special commandos of the Pakistan Army were dispatched from Kohat for the clearance operation.

Earlier, in December 2022, militants attacked the Counter Terrorism Department (CTD) complex here. After a lengthy operation lasting nearly three days, the extremists were finally eliminated inside the complex.

Zia Ud Din, Bannu District Police Officer, told The Media Line: “After the operation was completed, the area was cleared.”

In a second terror incident early Tuesday morning, militants opened fire on staff at a rural health centre in Dera Ismail Khan district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, killing two female health workers, two children and a security guard.

The army quickly mobilized nearby security forces for a cleanup operation at the Rural Health Center and in the course of the exchange of fire, three terrorists were eliminated,” the army reported.

However, during heavy shelling, a non-commissioned officer and a soldier lost their lives in the line of duty.

“Pakistan has repeatedly urged the Afghan Interim Government to keep terrorists out of Afghan soil and take decisive action against such elements,” the statement said. “The Pakistani armed forces remain committed to protecting the country and its people from terrorism and will take necessary measures against threats from Afghanistan.”