By Islamuddin Sajid
ISLAMABAD (AA): At least two Pakistani army soldiers were killed and wounding four others in a roadside bomb blast in the northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, the military said on Saturday. Two policemen were killed and one was injured in an attack by unknown assailants in the Killi Spine area of Kuchlak district, near Quetta, Balochistan,
According to Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), the army’s media wing, an improvised explosive device exploded while a military vehicle was passing over it in Bara, Khyber District, killing Naib Subedar Hazrat Gul and Sepoy Nazir Ullah Mehsud in the process.
Soon after the incident, security forces cordoned off the area and launched an operation to eliminate any terrorists in the area.
“Pakistan’s Security Forces are determined to eliminate the menace of terrorism and such sacrifices of our soldiers further strengthen our resolve,” said the ISPR.
The banned Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan, or TTP claimed responsibility for the deadly bombing.
In addition, two policemen were killed and one was injured in an attack by unknown assailants in the Killi Spine area of Kuchlak district, near Quetta, Balochistan, on Sunday evening, police said.
The policemen, who belonged to the Eagle Squad, were patrolling on a motorcycle when the assailants opened indiscriminate fire, leaving three injured. One of the assailants was killed while the other managed to escape as cops returned fire.
The injured personnel were rushed to a hospital where two of them succumbed to their wounds. The martyred policemen were identified as constables Abdul Jabbar and Jalaat Khan.
The latest incident came just a day after Pakistan’s top civilian and military body, the National Security Committee (NSC), approved an operation against the militants following an increase in attacks on security forces across the country, most of which were claimed by the Tehreek- e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), a consortium of several militant groups.
A statement from the Prime Minister’s Office on Friday after the NSC meeting said it had agreed to launch a new multi-pronged and comprehensive operation, with diplomatic, security, economic, and social efforts for the elimination of the menace of terrorism in all its forms .
No further details of the operation were released, such as whether it will nationwide or focused on northwestern and southwestern Pakistan.
Following a surge in attacks since the Taliban’s recapture of Afghanistan in 2021, Islamabad has been calling on Accept not to allow militant groups to use its soil as a launch pad to attack Pakistani security forces.
North Waziristan, South Waziristan, and the Khyber district – once dubbed the heartland of militancy – are among seven former semi-autonomous tribal districts in the country where the army has mounted a series of operations since 2014 to eliminate the TTP.
Successive operations pushed the TTP towards neighboring Afghanistan, and Islamabad claims the terrorist network has now set up bases across the border to attack Pakistani security forces.
Pakistan is believed to have a degree of influence over the Taliban.
However, despite Islamabad’s hopes for a further decrease in attacks from border areas following the Taliban retaking control of Accept, the army has still been facing a series of deadly attacks.
Additional report by The Muslim News
[Map of Pakistan from CIA Factbook/Public Domain]
