International Desk: Twin suicide bombings have occurred at a cantonment in the city of Bannu in Pakistan’s northwestern province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. Twelve civilians were killed and at least 30 others were injured.
The British news agency Reuters reported this information in a report on Wednesday (March 5).
The report, citing local officials, said that the attack was carried out using two explosive-laden vehicles after iftar on Tuesday (March 4). The powerful impact of the explosions caused the roof of a nearby mosque and a house to collapse.
Witnesses said that after two suicide bombers blew themselves up in the wall of the military installation, five to six armed men tried to enter. However, security forces quickly resisted and engaged in a gunfight with the terrorists. Security officials said that six attackers were killed in the exchange of fire.
Muhammad Nauman, a spokesman for Bannu Hospital, said that 12 people were killed and 30 were injured in the attack. They were all civilians, buried under collapsed buildings and walls. A hospital list showed at least seven children among the dead.
Pakistani Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif condemned the attack, saying, “The evil intentions of Pakistan’s enemies will never be allowed to succeed.”
It was not immediately clear who was behind the attack. However, in recent years, the Pakistani Taliban (TTP) has stepped up attacks on Pakistani police and military personnel in areas near the Afghan border.
The attack came a day after a suicide bombing at a madrassa in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa on Monday killed six people, including a top local Taliban leader.
Last year was Pakistan’s deadliest in a decade, with more than 1,600 people killed, according to the Islamabad-based think tank Center for Research and Security Studies.
The Pakistani government has long accused the Taliban rulers of Afghanistan of harboring TTP fighters across the border. However, the Taliban government has insisted that it will not allow anyone to use Afghan soil to foment violence in any country.
