ISLAMABAD: Two bomb attacks and a gunfight between police and militants in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa martyred at least 14 security personnel and three civilians, including a child
As per Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), eleven security personnel and a young civilian girl were martyred after a suicide vehicle-borne attack targeted a joint security forces and law enforcement agencies check post in Bajaur District.
ISPR said the attack was attempted on February 16 by militants identified as terrorists belonging to the Indian proxy network Fitna al Khwarij. The assailants tried to breach the security of the joint check post but were swiftly engaged by alert troops.
ISPR said security forces responded with “professional excellence,” foiling the assault and killing 12 attackers during a chase and exchange of firing. In a final act of desperation, the militants rammed an explosive-laden vehicle into the perimeter wall of the check post, causing a powerful blast that led to the collapse of part of the structure. “As a result of the explosion, eleven brave sons of the soil embraced Shahadat,” ISPR stated.
The blast also caused severe damage to nearby civilian residences, resulting in the martyrdom of one innocent young girl and injuries to seven civilians, including women and children.
Following the attack, sanitisation operations were launched in the area to eliminate any remaining militants.
ISPR said the operation is part of Pakistan’s ongoing counter-terrorism campaign under the vision of ‘Azm-e-Istehkam’, approved by the Federal Apex Committee under the National Action Plan.
“The sacrifices of our brave soldiers and innocent civilians further strengthen our resolve to eradicate foreign-sponsored terrorism and safeguard the nation at all costs,” the statement added.
AFP adds: Two bomb attacks and a gunfight between police and militants in northwest area martyred at least 14 security personnel and three civilians including a child, officials said.
The separate incidents in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province on Monday, which left dozens more wounded, come as security forces battle intensifying insurgencies in southern and Northern provinces that border Afghanistan.
This month the Islamic State (IS) group claimed responsibility for a massive suicide blast at a Shiite mosque in the capital Islamabad that killed 31 people and wounded 169 others.
The latest attacks in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa targeted a checkpoint and a police station, according to a military statement and a security official.
Militants rammed an explosive-laden vehicle into a wall near a checkpoint in Bajaur district, martyring 11 security personnel and a girl, the military said on Tuesday.
The explosion caused “severe destruction” to nearby residential buildings, “leading to the martyrdom of one innocent young girl” and injuring seven others, the military statement said.
It branded the assault “a cowardly terrorist attack”, which it blamed on an “Indian proxy” group.
The statement said security forces killed a dozen militants as they were fleeing the scene.
A security official, speaking to AFP on condition of anonymity, said the vehicle hit the wall of a religious college.
In another attack in the town of Bannu, a bomb planted in a rickshaw exploded at the Miryan police station, killing two civilians and wounding 17 others, the official said.
Elsewhere in the same province, three police personnel martyred and three militants were killed during a search operation in Shangla district.
The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa police force said in a statement on Monday that the three slain militants had been involved in “attacks targeting Chinese nationals”.
The police statement cited “a persistent threat to the strategic road corridor and Chinese development projects” as the reason behind Monday’s operation.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2026
Comments