Lahore: A suicide attack by Islamist militants on a military outpost in Waziristan, northwest Pakistan , killed 12 soldiers, according to the country’s military on Wednesday.
The military said that the attack, which occurred on Tuesday evening in Bannu, a district in the volatile Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, was one of the deadliest in recent months.
The military reported that during the subsequent gunfire exchange, six “khwarij” — a term used for the Pakistani Taliban — were killed.
“The attempt to enter the post was effectively thwarted by own troops, which forced the khwarij to ram an explosive laden vehicle into the perimeter wall of the post,” the statement said. It said the suicide attack led to collapse of a portion of a perimeter wall and damaged the adjoining infrastructure, resulting in the “martyrdom” of 12 security forces.
The Hafiz Gul Bahadur group, a splinter faction of the Pakistani Taliban, took responsibility for the attack in a statement. Since the Pakistani Taliban ended a months-long ceasefire with the government in Islamabad in November 2022, Pakistan has experienced a continuous rise in violence.
(with agency inputs)
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