16 Pakistani Troops Killed In Suicide Attack; TTP Offshoot Claims Responsibility
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A suicide bomber rammed an explosive-laden vehicle into a military convoy in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, killing several soldiers and injuring civilians.
At least 16 Pakistani soldiers were killed and more than two dozen others, including civilians, were injured after a suicide bomber rammed an explosive-laden vehicle into a military convoy in the restive Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province.
'A suicide bomber rammed an explosive-laden vehicle into a military convoy," said a local government official in the North Waziristan district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province. The blast killed 16 soldiers and injured over two dozen others, including civilians.
'The explosion also caused the roofs of two houses to collapse, injuring six children," a police officer posted in the district told AFP. The condition of four injured soldiers is critical, an administrative official added.
The attack was claimed by the suicide bomber wing of the Hafiz Gul Bahadur armed group, a faction of the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP). The latest comes amid a surge in violent militant attacks in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
In mid-March, the TTP announced a 'spring campaign" against security forces, threatening 'ambushes, targeted attacks, suicide attacks and strikes". The TTP has since claimed responsibility for around 100 attacks in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
Around 290 people, mostly security officials, have been killed in attacks since the start of the year by armed groups fighting the government in both Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan, according to an AFP tally.
Attacks have increased in Pakistan in particular since the Taliban returned to power in Afghanistan in August 2021. Islamabad accuses the Taliban government in Kabul of failing to eliminate militants who take refuge on Afghan soil to prepare attacks against Pakistan.
The Taliban government denies these accusations and in return accuses Pakistan of harbouring 'terrorist" cells on its soil, pointing the finger in particular at the regional branch of the Islamic State group IS-K.
Last year was the deadliest year in almost a decade in Pakistan, with more than 1,600 people killed in attacks — nearly half of them security forces personnel — according to the Islamabad-based Center for Research and Security Studies.
(with agency inputs)
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