PHOTO: AFP/FILE
Four Frontier Corps (FC) troops were killed and a dozen others injured on Wednesday when militants attacked a check post in North Waziristan Agency.
The militants, thought to be four in number, began the assault around 8.15 am by detonating an explosive-laden vehicle on Mirali-Thal Road near the wall of a security check post in Shewa tehsil of the agency.
Four FC troops were killed in the blast and 11 others were injured, said a local security official. “It was a huge explosion, which was heard miles away, while the check post was guarded by FC and Khasadar officials,” the official said.
He said the injured personnel were airlifted to the CMHs in Thal and Bannu while security forces along with FC officials surrounded the area and launched a search operation.
“The political administration imposed a curfew in Mirali subdivision of the agency after the explosion,” he added.
Mudassir, a tribesman from Shewa, said the explosion not only damaged the check post but also a nearby school and hospital.
“It seemed as if a high intensity bomb had been detonated inside my house,” he said, adding that the explosion, followed by gunfire spread panic among local tribesmen.
Ansarul Mujahideen militant group claimed responsibility for the attack. A spokesperson for the group, Abu Baseer, said four suicide bombers took part in the attack.
“One of the bombers detonated the explosive-laden pickup near the check post while three others entered the post, attacked the FC
and Khasadar officials and later on detonated their vest after an hour of gun battle with the officials,” he claimed.
Attack in Swabi
Four suspected militants were killed in a firefight with police during an attack on a police check post in Swabi district.
“More than a dozen militants stormed the check post around 12.45am, hurled hand grenades at the building and then opened fire,” the District Police Officer (DPO), Sajad Khan, said.
He said there were seven police officials on duty inside the check post, who retaliated against the attackers and later called the police for assistance.
The DPO said fresh police contingents were also rushed to the attack site, prompting a deadly firefight that lasted around 90 minutes, after which the militants started to retreat. A search operation was launched soon after and four bodies were found lying in barren fields.
“Four hand grenades, four AK-47s, wires for detonation, eight magazines, along with 35 bullets were found near the bodies,” said the man in-charge of Natyan check post, head constable Aftab.
Published in The Express Tribune, November 21st, 2013.
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This is really a grave incident and it is evident that the militants have an upper hand against the security forces. Drones or no drones TTP wouldn't be interested in talks and it would be a blunder to take them lightly and not launch operations against them.