BANNU,Pakistan. Nov 20 -Twelve security personnel were martyred and six terrorists killed following an attack on a checkpost in the Mali Khel area of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Bannu, the military’s media affairs wing reported on Wednesday. This incident occurs amid a sharp increase in attacks targeting security forces, law enforcement agencies, and security checkpoints, particularly in Balochistan and KP.
The restive Bannu district has recently experienced heightened militant violence, including the abduction of police officers, an attack on a girls’ school, and a shootout that resulted in the martyrdom of three security personnel.
According to a press release from the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), on November 19 (Tuesday), “khwarij attempted to attack a Joint Check Post in the general area of Mali Khel in Bannu District.” The attack was effectively thwarted, but a suicide blast led to the collapse of the checkpost’s perimeter wall and adjoining infrastructure, resulting in the martyrdom of 10 soldiers and two Frontier Constabulary personnel.
“In the ensuing fire exchange, six khwarij were sent to hell,” the ISPR stated.
In July, the government designated the banned Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) as Fitna al Khawarij, mandating all institutions to use the term khariji (outcast) when referring to the perpetrators of terrorist attacks on Pakistan.
The ISPR statement noted: “The attempt to enter the post was effectively thwarted by our troops, which forced the khwarij to ram an explosive-laden vehicle into the perimeter wall of the post.”
It added that the “suicide blast led to the collapse of a portion of the perimeter wall and damaged the adjoining infrastructure, resulting in the shahadat of twelve brave sons of the soil, including 10 soldiers of the security forces and two soldiers of the Frontier Constabulary.”
According to the ISPR, a sanitisation operation is underway. “The perpetrators of this heinous act will be brought to justice,” the military vowed.
“Security forces and law enforcement agencies of Pakistan are determined to eliminate the menace of terrorism, and such sacrifices of our brave men further strengthen our resolve,” it reaffirmed.
