At least 13 soldiers lost their lives and dozens more were wounded in a devastating suicide bombing targeting military convoy in Pakistan’s northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province on Saturday.
The attack took place in the Khadi Market area of Mir Ali, North Waziristan, when a suicide bomber rammed an explosives-laden vehicle into a bomb disposal unit truck, security officials told local media. According to reports by Khyber Chronicles, at least 24 people were injured, including 14 civilians.
The powerful blast also caused the roofs of two nearby houses to collapse, leaving six children among the injured, a local police officer confirmed.
This assault marks one of the deadliest attacks on Pakistan’s security forces in recent months. The Hafiz Gul Bahadur group, an offshoot of the Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), claimed responsibility for the bombing.
Pakistan has faced a surge in militant violence along its border regions with Afghanistan since the Taliban’s takeover of Kabul in 2021. Islamabad continues to accuse the Afghan authorities of providing safe havens to groups plotting attacks inside Pakistan — an allegation the Taliban administration denies.
As many as 13 Pakistan Army soldiers were martyred when an explosive-laden vehicle of the Indian-sponsored terrorists rammed into security forces vehicle in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s (KP) North Waziristan district, said Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) in a statement on Saturday.
The military’s media wing, in a statement, said that a vehicle-borne suicide bomber attempted to explode himself on a security forces convoy, which was intercepted by the leading group, foiling his nefarious design.
However, in their desperation, the ISPR said the explosive-laden vehicle was rammed by the “Indian-sponsored kharjis” into one of the vehicles of the leading group.
“13 brave sons of soil, embraced shahadat (martyrdom) [and] in this tragic and barbaric incident, three innocent civilians including two children and a woman also severely injured,” read the statement.
Army personnel martyred in the attack were identified as Subedar Zahid Iqbal,45, Havildar Sohrab Khan, 39, Havildar Mian Yousaf, 41, Naik Khitab Shah, 34, Lance Naik Ismail, 32, Sepoy Rohail, 30, Sepoy Muhammad Ramzan, 33, Sepoy Nawab, 30, Sepoy Zubair Ahmed, 24, Sepoy Muhammad Sahki, 31, Sepoy Hashim Abbasi, 20, Sepoy Muddasir Ejaz, 25, Sepoy Manzar Ali, 23.
Following the attack, security forces launched a sanitisation operation in the affected area, according to an official statement.
During the ensuing exchange of fire, 14 militants were killed, the ISPR statement stated.
“The operations in the area would continue and perpetrators of this heinous and cowardly act will be brought to justice,” the ISPR stated.
“The security forces of Pakistan in step with the nation remain steadfast in their resolve to eradicate Indian-sponsored terrorism from the country and such sacrifices of our brave soldiers and innocent civilians further reinforce our unwavering commitment to safeguarding our nation at all costs,” the press release concluded.
Chief of Army Staff (COAS) Field Marshal Asim Munir has vowed that all facilitators, abettors, and perpetrators of terrorism will be relentlessly pursued and brought to justice without exception and at all costs.
The field marshal visited the Corps Headquarters in Peshawar today, where he was briefed in detail on the prevailing security situation and ongoing counter-terrorism operations. During the visit, the army chief also attended funeral of Shuhada of the incident at Bannu Garrison and visited the injured at Bannu CMH, read a statement issued by the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR).
