Ambush: Five Rangers men injured in check post assault

Militants flee following retaliatory fire, search op under way.

GILGIT/ KOHISTAN:

Five Rangers personnel were injured when unidentified suspected militants attacked a check post in Diamer-Bhasha Dam area on the border of K-P and G-B during the early hours of Sunday.

An official of Kohistan police said the paramilitary troopers were present at the Basari check post on Karakoram Highway when over 30 armed militants opened fire using automatic and semi-automatic weapons.

Rangers retaliated with return fire which forced the attackers to flee, he added. Five officials were injured in the assault and shifted to Gilgit Hospital via helicopter. They were later shifted to Combined Military Hospital in Rawalpindi, Punjab, in critical condition.



The injured officials were identified as Hawaldar Liaquat, Lance Naik Abdul Razzaq, Lance Naik Muhammad Aslam, Lance Naik Akhtar Hussain, residents of Punjab, and Sub-Inspector Muhammad Mushtaq.

While talking to The Express Tribune, Gilgit-Baltistan Home Secretary Sibtain Ahmed said the incident occurred around 1am. He said the flow of traffic between G-B and Rawalpindi will not be disrupted and that security has further been augmented along the strategic highway.

According to the official, the federal government had recently sent a ‘threat alert’ to all provinces as well as G-B, stating militants might attack security forces or government installations before or on March 23.

Initial investigations revealed the assailants fired from a distance of about 200 metres. No militant organisation had claimed responsibility for the attack till the filing of this report. G-B Chief Secretary Sultan Sikandar also visited the injured at the hospital.

When approached for comment, Hazara DIG Akhtar Hayat Gandapur said the post was manned by Punjab Rangers in a territory controlled by the federal government, adding Kohistan police is in close coordination with Rangers and have extended support in hunting down the attackers.

Disputed territory

The federal government had deployed Rangers in the area in order to put an end to the long-standing armed territorial conflict between tribes of Diamer district of Gilgit and K-P’s Kohistan district last year.

The last skirmish occurred on March 1, 2014, resulting in the deaths of six tribesmen and injuries to over two dozen people on both sides. The fulcrum of the dispute is a 10-kilometre-long strip of land near Basari check post, which separates Kohistan from G-B. This is among the areas demarcated for acquisition for the Diamer-Bhasha Dam project. Both sides lay claim to the financial compensation the government is bound to pay.

Following the incident, heavy contingents of Pakistan Army, Rangers, G-B Scouts and police launched a search operation in the area. However, no arrests were reported till filing of this report.

This is the second biggest attack on security officials in the region following the killing of an army colonel, a captain and an SSP in 2013. The officials were investigating the murder of foreign tourists at Nanga Parbat base camp.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 16^th, 2015.