KARACHI: At least 28 people, including five civilians, 10 soldiers, and 13 suspected militants, were killed in two separate terrorist attacks, which included a suicide bombing, in northwestern Pakistan, the military said.
A group of heavily-armed militants stormed the cantonment area in the Bannu district of northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province before a suicide bomber rammed an explosive-laden vehicle into the perimeter wall of the area, killing eight soldiers.
"The attempt to enter the cantonment was effectively thwarted by the security forces personnel, which forced the terrorists to ram an explosive laden vehicle into perimeter wall of the cantonment," the military said in a statement.
The suicide blast, it added, led to the collapse of a portion of the wall and damaged the adjoining infrastructure, resulting in the killing of eight soldiers.
In the ensuing operation, troops effectively engaged the attackers, killing all 10 suspected militants, the statement added. The army pointed a finger at the Hafiz Gul Bahadur group of outlawed Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), "which operates from Afghanistan and has used Afghan soil to orchestrate acts of terrorism inside Pakistan in the past as well."
Hours after, another group of terrorists stormed a healthy facility in the outskirts of Dera Ismail Khan district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and opened "indiscriminate" firing, killing five civilians, a separate statement from the military said. In an exchange of fire, three terrorists and two army troops were also killed, it added.
The deceased included two women health workers and as many children.
