Smoke billows after an explosion when a militant suicide squad reportedly tried to breach an army cantonment, which includes military residences and offices, in Bannu on July 15, 2024. — AFP file
A suicide assault by Islamist militants on a military outpost resulted in the death of 12 soldiers in northwest Pakistan, according to the country's military on Wednesday. The militants crashed an explosives-packed vehicle into the outpost's perimeter wall in the northern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, causing damage to adjacent structures during the attack on Tuesday, as stated by the military's media wing in a release.
"A sanitization operation is underway in the area, and the culprits of this despicable act will be held accountable," the statement read, noting that six militants had been killed. The military did not specify who was responsible for the attack, but Hafiz Gul Bahadur, an Islamist militant group, claimed the responsibility.
Pakistan is grappling with a resurgence of militant attacks in its rugged northwest, along with an escalating ethnic separatist insurgency in the southwest. On Wednesday, Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif declared a new military operation against separatist insurgents in southwestern Balochistan province, which borders Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and hosts key Chinese Belt and Road projects, following a series of attacks in the region.
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