A terrorist attack on a joint police checkpost in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Tank district martyred 15 people, including 14 security personnel, the military’s media wing said on Friday.
Among those martyred are 12 soldiers, two policemen and a government official.
Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) said in a statement that the attack took place early on Friday and was carried out by Fitna-al-Khawarij – a term used to designate members of the banned Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan.
Elaborating on the incident, the military’s media wing said the attackers attempted to breach the checkpost’s perimeter, but their attempts were “swiftly and decisively foiled by the vigilant and resolute response of security forces.”
The security personnel deployed at the checkpost displayed “unwavering courage and professional excellence” and engaged and eliminated 15 terrorists, the ISPR added.
The statement added that the attackers then rammed an explosive-laden vehicle into the perimeter wall.
“Due to [the] blast impact, infrastructure at [the] checkpost was seriously damaged; resultantly, 15 brave sons of [the] soil, including 12 military, two policemen and a government official ex forest department, rendered the ultimate sacrifice and embraced shahadat (martyrdom),” the statement read.
ISPR added that a sanitisation operation was ongoing to track down any other terrorists in the area, vowing that under the “relentless counter-terrorism campaign under vision ‘Azm-i-Istehkam’ (as approved by Federal Apex Committee on National Action Plan) by security forces and law enforcement agencies of Pakistan will continue at full pace to wipe out the menace of foreign-sponsored and supported terrorism from the country”.
“These sacrifices of our brave soldiers further reinforce our unwavering commitment to safeguarding our nation at all costs,” ISPR said.
Separately, a Customs official was martyred and another injured after unidentified gunmen opened fire on a customs vehicle near the toll plaza on the Indus Highway in Kohat on Friday.
The officials sources said the attackers sprayed the vehicle with gunfire, triggering a fire that engulfed the customs vehicle.
The deceased official was identified as Jawad Jan, while the injured official, Baseer Ullah, was shifted to a nearby hospital.
Meanwhile, security forces killed four more terrorists during an operation in the Khad Kocha area of Balochistan’s Mastung district.
Separately, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Friday said India’s role in terrorist activities inside Pakistan was “absolutely clear”, urging the nation to collectively confront the threat of terrorism.
Addressing participants of the Balochistan National Workshop in Islamabad, the prime minister regretted that India was sponsoring terrorism in Pakistan.
He said that Balochistan’s leadership had always set aside personal interests to support the federation, while its people had played a key role in the creation of Pakistan.
PM Shehbaz said that Punjab had contributed generously to Balochistan’s share under the National Finance Commission (NFC) Award, adding that the country’s progress depended on the equal contributions of all four provinces.
The prime minister said work was underway on the Karachi-Chaman dual carriageway project.
Referring to the country’s fight against terrorism, he said that 90,000 people had embraced martyrdom and noted that a sessions judge had been killed in Mastung a day earlier.
PM Shehbaz lamented that the Afghan Taliban regime had “completely failed” to stop terrorists from using its soil to carry out attacks against civilians and security personnel in Pakistan.
The prime minister maintained that terrorism had been eradicated by 2018 but had returned under an “organised conspiracy”.
He resolved that the sacrifices of the people of Balochistan would not go in vain, adding that Pakistan had achieved significant successes in recent days.
President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif have strongly condemned the terrorist attack on a check post of security forces in Tank.
In separate statements, they paid tribute to the security forces for killing twelve terrorists belonging to Fitna al Khawarij and foiling the attack.
The President and Prime Minister also paid homage to the brave soldiers and personnel who embraced martyrdom in the terrorist attack.
They prayed for the elevation of the ranks of the martyrs and for patience and fortitude for their bereaved families.
They said the security forces and law enforcement agencies will continue their operations with full resolve to rid the country of this menace.