ISLAMABAD — Pakistan has confirmed the deaths of at least eight soldiers in a militant assault on a northwestern army compound Monday, saying security forces killed all 10 assailants in the ensuing hours-long gunfight.
The military’s Inter-Services Public Relations, or ISPR, released details Tuesday of the deadly pre-dawn raid in the garrison city of Bannu, stating that it was orchestrated by “terrorists” based in neighboring Afghanistan.
“The attempt to enter the cantonment was effectively thwarted by security forces personnel, which forced the terrorists to ram an explosive-laden vehicle into the perimeter wall of the cantonment,” the ISPR said.
It added that the vehicle-born suicide bombing destroyed a portion of the wall and damaged adjoining infrastructure, resulting in the deaths of the eight soldiers.
Militants allied with the globally designated terrorist group, Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan, or TTP, took responsibility for the assault shortly after it started.
Multiple security sources in the area reported that the attack had also injured dozens of soldiers. Local police and witnesses said that the intensity of the blast shattered nearby homes, injuring several civilians.
In its statement on Tuesday, the military denounced the attack as “a heinous act of terrorism.” It noted that Islamabad “has consistently raised its concerns” with and asked Afghanistan’s Taliban government “to deny persistent use of Afghan soil by the terrorists.”
It warned, without elaborating, that Pakistan “will take all necessary measures as deemed appropriate against these threats emanating from Afghanistan.” Earlier this year, Pakistani fighter planes bombed suspected TTP targets in Afghan border areas following a dramatic surge in attacks in Pakistan.
Bannu and adjoining districts in the border province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa have particularly witnessed almost daily TTP attacks, targeting military and police forces since the Taliban reclaimed power in Afghanistan three years ago.
Pakistan maintains TTP leaders and fighters are being increasingly facilitated by the de facto rulers of Afghanistan. The Taliban government dismisses the charges, saying TTP is an internal problem for Pakistan to deal with.
UN findings
TTP is known to have publicly pledged allegiance to the Afghan Taliban. It provided shelter on Pakistani soil and recruits for their Afghan ideological allies to help them wage insurgent attacks against the U.S.-led NATO troops for years until U.S. and international forces withdrew from Afghanistan in 2021 and the Taliban seized power there.
A new United Nations report released earlier this month described TTP as “the largest terrorist group” operating in Afghanistan, noting that it had intensified its terrorist activities in Pakistan since the Taliban takeover.
“TTP continues to operate at a significant scale in Afghanistan and to conduct terrorist operations into Pakistan from there, often utilizing Afghans,” said the report by the U.N. sanctions monitoring team. It estimated that TTP had “6,000-6,500” fighters based in Afghan territory.
“Further, the Taliban have proved unable or unwilling to manage the threat from Tehrik-e Taliban Pakistan…Taliban support to TTP also appears to have increased,” the U.N. report stated. “The Taliban do not conceive of TTP as a terrorist group: the bonds are close, and the debt owed to TTP is significant,” the report added.
Taliban government spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid rejected the U.N. report in a statement over the weekend. He claimed that no “foreign groups” operate in the country, nor are “any individuals or entities” being allowed to threaten other countries from Afghanistan.
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