Islamabad, June 28: As many as 13 Pakistani soldiers were killed and 29 others injured, including 19 civilians, in a suicide attack early Saturday morning in Khadi area of North Waziristan district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
Citing security agencies, Pakistani media outlet Mashriq TV stated that a suicide bomber crashed an explosive-laden vehicle into a mine-resistant Improvised Explosive Device (IED) vehicle belonging to the Bomb Disposal Unit amid a curfew imposed due to military movement in the area.
The powerful blast resulted in the killing of 13 military personnel and injuring 24 people, including 14 civilians. There were reports of indiscriminate firing also which caused injuries to 19 civilians, including women and children, in the area. Reports suggest that the rescue operations were launched immediately following the blast.
According to local authorities, the condition of several injured, including women and children, remains critical and the number of casualties might rise significantly. The Usud al-Harab organisation, a sub-faction of the Hafiz Gul Bahadur group affiliated with Tehreek-e-Taliban (TTP) Pakistan, has reportedly taken responsibility for the suicide attack.
The incident is termed as the deadliest attack in North Waziristan in recent months, raising serious concerns over the deteriorating security conditions in the area. The Inter Services Public Relations (ISPR), the media wing of the Pakistan Army, has not yet commented on the attack.
According to reports, the security forces have cordoned off the area and launched a search operation in the region. Last month, a car bomb explosion in Gulistan Area of Qila Abdullah, a border area of Pakistan’s Balochistan province with Afghanistan, killed at least four people and injured more than 20 others, eight of them critically injured.
The explosion occurred in Jabbar commercial market situated on the Quetta–Chaman National Highway in Gulistan town, adjacent to the fort of Pakistan’s Frontier Corps (FC). As per details, the massive explosion destroyed many shops and vehicles parked in the area and walls of the FC Fort were also damaged.
Locals said that many shops in the market also caught fire. Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan had claimed responsibility for the attack with Pakistani analysts suggesting a clear coordination between the Baloch Liberation Army (BLA) and the TTP, who have intensified their attacks in the recent past. At the same time, the BLA has also intensified its attacks on security forces in the province.
IANS