Deadly attack in Peshawar: 8 soldiers killed, 7 policemen abducted

By Al Mayadeen English
Source: Agencies
19 Nov 2024 08:09

Pakistan has been experiencing an uptick in TTP-led assaults along its borders.

Listen

Security officials examine the site of a bomb explosion at a railway station in Quetta, southwestern Pakistan, on November 9, 2024. (AP)

Eight soldiers were killed and seven police officers were abducted in separate incidents in northwest Pakistan, according to police and intelligence sources as quoted by AFP on Tuesday.

An intelligence official reported that a clash on Monday in the Tirah region of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province resulted in the deaths of "eight soldiers" and "nine militants". The Pakistani Taliban (TTP) later claimed responsibility for the attack.

In a separate incident within the same province, "seven police officers were kidnapped" from a checkpoint, a senior police official confirmed, adding, "The assailants also seized the weapons belonging to the officials."

Bomb blast in Pakistan kills 21, injures 30, reports say

A bomb explosion near a railway station in Quetta, the capital of Pakistan's Balochistan province, on Saturday resulted in at least 21 deaths and 30 injuries, according to Geo News.

The blast, which is suspected to be a suicide attack, is still under investigation, as stated by local police officer Muhammad Baloch.

The explosion occurred at 9:00 am local time (04:00 GMT) on Saturday just as the Jaffer Express train was about to depart from Quetta to Peshawar, railway officials reported.

Police and rescue teams arrived at the scene, and emergency protocols were activated at Quetta's civil hospital, the report added.

39 killed in southwest Pakistan in three 'coordinated attacks'

In August, gunmen shot and killed at least 39 people in "coordinated attacks" in southwest Pakistan.

In one of the attacks, dozens of militants stopped vehicles traveling on a highway through Balochistan province in the Musakhail district and shot 23 people dead – one of the worst shootings in the region in the past several years.

At the time, the Baloch Liberation Army (BLA), the most active militant separatist group in the province, claimed responsibility for an overnight operation in a statement sent to AFP.

Government officials have reported deadly attacks in at least three districts in impoverished Balochistan.

Najibullah Kakar, a senior official in Musakhail, told AFP that the militants stopped several buses, trucks, and vans on a highway linking Punjab with Balochistan.

"At least 22 people were killed and five injured when militants intercepted the vehicles," he said of the first attack, adding that passengers from Punjab were singled out and shot.

Among the victims were 19 Punjabis and three Baloch, mostly laborers from Punjab, according to Kakar. Hameed Zehri, another senior district official, confirmed the death toll and suggested that the Baloch Liberation Army (BLA), the region's most active militant separatist group, was likely responsible for the attack.

In its statement, the BLA said it had launched an operation "on highways across Balochistan," claiming to have targeted only security personnel.

An earlier statement from the group warned the Baloch public to stay away from the highways, adding that their "fight is against the occupying Pakistani military."