ISLAMABAD: Monitoring Desk – Two suicide bombings breached a wall at a military base in Bannu cantonment in KPK before other attackers stormed the compound and were repelled in violence that killed at least 12 people and wounded 30 others, according to officials and a local hospital.
A group affiliated with the Pakistani Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack in Bannu, in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province. The military didn’t immediately confirm any casualties, but Bannu District Hospital said that at least a dozen people were dead.
Associated Press reported that two suicide bombers blew themselves up near the wall of the sprawling military area, a security official said on condition of anonymity, because he wasn’t authorized to speak with reporters.
“After a breach in the wall, five to six more attackers attempted to enter the cantonment, but were eliminated,” the security official said.
The attack happened after sunset, when people would have been breaking their fast during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.
Jaish Al-Fursan claimed responsibility for the attack, the third militant assault in Pakistan since Ramadan started Sunday. In a statement, the group said the source of the blasts were explosive-laden vehicles.
Plumes of gray smoke rose into the air and gunshots continued after the two explosions, police officer Zahid Khan said. Four of those killed were children, hospital officials said. The victims lived close to the scene of the blasts.
A spokesman for Bannu District Hospital, Muhammad Noman, said that the evening blasts badly damaged homes and other buildings.
“The roofs and walls collapsed and that’s why we are receiving casualties,” he said.
Hospital director Dr. Ahmed Faraz Khan said: “So far we have received 42 victims, 12 dead and 30 injured. A few of them are critical, but most are stable. All doctors, particularly surgeons and paramedical staff, have been called for duty as a medical emergency has been imposed.”
Pakistani media reports said , 6 terrorists of the proscribed Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan militant group were killed on Tuesday as security forces foiled an attack on the Bannu Cantonment in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa , according to the interior ministry.
In a statement issued late on Tuesday, the ministry said Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi paid tribute to the security forces for taking timely action and thwarting the attack after killing 6 TTP terrorists.
In a separate statement, KP government spokesperson Barrister Saif said: “The terrorists failed in the attack due to the timely action of security forces. All the attackers have been killed,” adding that the roofs of nearby buildings and a mosque collapsed due to blasts.
He said that worshippers were killed in the latter incident and the number of the dead was still being determined.
A senior district police official told AFP on condition of anonymity that “suicide bombers rammed two explosives-laden vehicles into the entrance gate of Bannu Cantonment, triggering massive explosions … after which multiple terrorists attempted to storm the compound,” adding that “security forces present at the scene engaged them in a gunfight.”
Videos circulating on social media showed plumes of smoke in the air while gunfire could be heard in the background.
A statement from the Bannu Rescue 1122 spokesperson said that so far the agency had moved 11 bodies and 30 injured people to the hospital for medical treatment with District Emergency Officer Bakhtullah Wazir supervising the ongoing rescue operation.
Meanwhile, Noman Khattab, spokesperson for the District Headquarters Hospital, said 12 bodies of civilians and 30 injured people were brought to the hospital for treatment.
Khattab said that an emergency has been declared in all district hospitals while staff have been recalled for duties, including those off duty.
The Afghanistan-based proscribed Hafiz Gul Bahadur (HGB) group of the TTP claimed responsibility for the attack.
The Inter Services Public Relations has not commented on the incident so far.
Dawn reports that last year in July 2024, a terrorist attack targeting Bannu Cantonment had martyred eight members of the security forces while a retaliatory operation killed 10 terrorists. The attack was carried out by the Hafiz Gul Bahadur group as well.
Pakistan has witnessed an uptick in terror activities recently, especially in KP and Balochistan after the banned TTP ended its ceasefire with the government in November 2022.
February saw a marginal increase in terrorist attacks but a sharp surge in civilian casualties, according to a report published by the Islamabad-based think tank, Pakistan Institute for Conflict and Security Studies (PICSS).
The report tallying terrorist attacks across Pakistan in February was published after a suicide bomber rammed an explosive-laden vehicle into a military convoy in North Waziristan on Sunday, martyring two soldiers and injuring 10 others.
According to PICSS, the country witnessed 79 terrorist attacks last month, resulting in the deaths of 55 civilians and 47 security personnel, while 45 civilians and 81 security personnel were injured. Security forces, meanwhile, intensified counter-terrorism operations, eliminating 156 terrorists, injuring 20, and arresting 66, it said.
