Twelve security personnel and six terrorists have been killed in a suicide blast in Pakistan’s northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, the Pakistani Army said on Wednesday.
The blast happened after a suicide bomber rammed an explosive-laden vehicle into a joint check post in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa
The terrorists attempted to attack a joint check post in general area MaliKhel in Bannu district late on Tuesday night, but their attempt to enter the post was effectively thwarted by troops, Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), the Pakistani Army’s media wing said, according to PTI.
The suicide blast led to the collapse of the portion of the perimeter wall and damaged the adjoining infrastructure, resulting in the death of “12 brave sons of soil” including 10 soldiers of the security forces and two soldiers of the Frontier Constabulary, the ISPR said.
There was an exchange of fire following the blast in which six terrorists were killed. The injured persons have been shifted to a local hospital.
The army conducted a sanitisation operation in the area and a curfew has been imposed. The country as a whole, but particularly the Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa provinces, has seen a sharp uptick in terrorism-related incidents over the past year.
According to the Centre for Research and Security Studies, the third quarter of the ongoing year witnessed a 90 per cent surge in violence in Pakistan, local media had reported earlier.
The fresh attack comes a day after the country’s civil and military leadership on Tuesday approved a comprehensive military operation against terrorist organisations in Balochistan in a move aimed at stemming the tide of militancy in the province that had seen several deadly attacks in recent months.
The decision was taken by the Federal Apex Committee – a high-powered civil and military forum on counterterrorism. Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif chaired the meeting, which was attended by the federal ministers, chief ministers, Army Chief Gen Syed Asim Munir and senior government officials, The Express Tribune reported.