12 security men martyred, 6 terrorists killed following attack on Bannu check post

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12 security men martyred, 6 terrorists killed following attack on Bannu check post​

Dawn.com | Iftikhar Shirazi
November 20, 2024

Twelve personnel were martyred while six terrorists were killed after a checkpost was targeted in the Mali Khel area of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Bannu, the military’s media affairs wing said on Wednesday.

The incident comes amid a sharp uptick in the number of attacks targeting security forces, other law enforcement agencies, and security checkpoints, particularly in Balochistan and KP.

The restive Bannu district has seen heightened militant violence of late, including the abduction of cops, an attack on a girls’ school and a shootout that martyred three security men.

In a press release, the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) said that on November 19 (Tuesday), “khwarij attempted to attack a Joint Check Post in general area MaliKhel in Bannu District”.

The attack was effectively thwarted, the ISPR said, but a suicide blast led to the collapse of the checkpost’s perimeter wall and adjoining infrastructure, resulting in the martyrdom of 10 soldiers and two Frontier Constabulary personnel.

“In ensuing fire exchange, six khwarij were sent to hell,” the ISPR said.

In July, the government designated the banned Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) as Fitna al Khawarij, while mandating all institutions to use the term khariji (outcast) when referring to the perpetrators of terrorist attacks on Pakistan.

The ISPR statement noted: “The attempt to enter the post was effectively thwarted by own troops, which forced the khwarij to ram an explosive-laden vehicle into the perimeter wall of the post.”

It added that the “suicide blast led to collapse of portion of perimeter wall and damaged the adjoining infrastructure, resulting in shahadat of twelve brave sons of soil that include 10 soldiers of the security forces and two soldiers of Frontier Constabulary.”

According to the ISPR, a sanitisation operation was underway. “The perpetrators of this heinous act will be brought to justice,” the military vowed.

“Security forces and law enforcement agencies of Pakistan are determined to eliminate the menace of terrorism and such sacrifices of our brave men further strengthen our resolve,” it reaffirmed.