ISLAMABAD: At least seven Pakistan army soldiers, including a lieutenant colonel and captain, were killed on Saturday in a terrorist attack on a military post in volatile North Waziristan tribal district, bordering Afghanistan in the northwest.
According to Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), the military’s media affairs wing, a group of six terrorists attacked the post in Mir Ali town in the early hours of Saturday.Pakistani troops foiled their initial attempt at intrusion before they rammed an explosives-laden vehicle into the post. ISPR said this was “followed by multiple suicide bombing attacks, which led to the collapse of a portion of a building in which five security personnel were killed”, adding that another two soldiers died fighting the assailants.
Troops killed six attackers, some of who were wearing suicide vests, the military said. While ISPR did not say who was behind the attack, a newly formed group, Jaish-e-Fursan-e-Muhammad, claimed responsibility.
North Waziristan has served as a springboard for wars in Afghanistan for over four decades. This area was once described as the global headquarters of terrorism. The region has remained a stronghold of Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), Afghan Taliban, al-Qaeda, the Haqqani Network and several other militant outfits. A significant number of militants remain in remote pockets of the region along the border with Afghanistan and run a shadow parallel administration from there.