Daily Times

PESHAWAR: At least 11 soldiers, including an officer, were martyred and 13 others wounded on Saturday in a suicide attack on an army base camp in northern Pakistan, officials said, in a region that was once controlled by a local faction of the Taliban.

The Pakistan Army’s public relations wing said in a statement that the ‘suicide attack’ in Kabal area of Swat Valley took place at the ‘army unit sports area’.

A security official who asked not to be identified said the suicide bomber blew himself up as soldiers were playing a volleyball match that was being watched by a number of local civilians.

He added that the casualty count could rise as a large number of people had gathered in the area.

The attack was claimed by the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan, in a statement sent to the media. “God willing Tehreek-e-Taliban has started the process of revenge attacks,” Taliban spokesman Mohammad Khurasani said in the statement. “Wait for more (attacks) to follow.”

The military has been on alert for signs of a Taliban resurgence as it seeks to rebuild civilian institutions and win over the local population as a bulwark against radical ideology. Attacks have decreased sharply in the picturesque Swat Valley but can cause alarm in a region where Taliban insurgents took partial control in 2007, before being ousted two years later in a major military operation hailed as an important blow against militant violence.

Swat was the first sizeable region outside tribal areas bordering Afghanistan to fall to the militants. More than 2,000 Taliban fighters have been driven out of the region, government officials say. Since being chased out the region, the Taliban have carried out revenge attacks against anti-militancy activists and attempted to extort money from business owners in a region where Pakistan has stationed more than 4,000 soldiers.

Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi condemned the attack in a region that has also increasingly become an important part of the country’s domestic tourism industry, with ski resorts popping up along the hills of the Swat Valley.

“No cowardly attack can deter us in pursuing our struggle against the menace of terrorism to its logical conclusion. We will continue our fight till the last trace is rooted out,” the prime minister said in a statement.

He prayed for blessing of the departed souls and quick recovery of the injured. Expressing deep grief and condolences with the bereaved families, the prime minister said the coward enemy was no match for the valiant sons of the soil.

ISPR had earlier said three soldiers were martyred in the attack. The death toll rose after seven critically injured soldiers succumbed to their injuries. An officer is among those martyred in the attack, according to the ISPR.

All the injured were shifted to Combined Military Hospital Saidu Sharif.

Security forces and police cordoned off the area and started a search operation after the attack.

A few days ago, the Swat police claimed to have arrested two militants in the same area allegedly involved in anti-state activities during spillover of militancy to the Swat valley.

Earlier in December last year, security forces conducted an intelligence-based operation in Swat’s Jahan Abad area and killed two wanted terrorists. The operation was conducted after intelligence agencies received information regarding movement of terrorists, who were crossing over from Afghanistan and entering Swat valley.

The armed forces have carried a series of military operations against local and foreign terrorists in the scenic Swat valley. Operation Rah-e-Haq was launched thrice in the valley and Shangla district in 2007, 2008, and 2009. The army advanced toward Mingora, the largest city in the valley, after it launched Swat Operation, also known as Operation Rah-e-Rast, in May 2009.

Published in Daily Times, February 4^th 2018.