At least 24 people were killed and others were injured – today, Tuesday – in a suicide attack targeting a military base in northwestern Pakistan, which was claimed by a group linked to the Pakistani Taliban.
Reuters quoted security officials as saying that gunmen stormed a police station in northwestern Pakistan with a truck bomb.
The two security officials added that the attack occurred in the Dera Ismail Khan area of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province, which is located on the outskirts of tribal areas outside state control on the border with Afghanistan, and the Pakistani army uses the police station as its base.
A security official told Agence France-Presse, “Many were killed in their sleep and were wearing civilian clothes, so we are still trying to determine whether they were all military.”
The Pakistani Jihad Movement, which emerged recently and is linked to the Pakistani Taliban, claimed responsibility for the attack. The Pakistani army did not comment on the attack.
The Pakistani Geo News channel quoted the police as saying that security forces killed 3 “terrorists” during the exchange of fire.
Kakkar condemns
For his part, interim Pakistani Prime Minister Anwarul Haq Kakar affirmed on Tuesday his government’s determination to continue its efforts to eliminate terrorism and extremism in the country.
The Prime Minister said that such actions cannot discourage the security forces’ determination to confront terrorism. The Pakistani Taliban, which emerged on the scene in Pakistan in 2007, is a separate movement from the Afghan Taliban.
The Pakistani Taliban killed tens of thousands of Pakistani civilians and security forces in less than 10 years. A military operation that began in 2014 led to the expulsion of militants towards the mountainous border with Afghanistan, which contributed to improving the security situation for a few years.
