Suicide bomb attack on police station kills 23 officers in Pakistan

D.I. Khan: In the deadliest attack on security forces this year, at least 23 Pakistan Army soldiers were martyred and more than 30 troops wounded after militants belonging to the Tehreek-i-Jihad Pakistan (TJP) stormed a compound used by the military in Dera Ismail Khan’s Daraban area, in the early hours of Tuesday.

Six militants who stormed the building were killed. Separately, two military operations in Dara­zi­nda and Kolachi resulted in the death of 21 militants and claimed the lives of two soldiers, the military’s media wing said in a statement.

Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) said a group of six militants stormed a security post in the early hours of Tuesday in Daraban, but their attempt was foiled.

The assault was followed by blasts, as militants rammed an explosives-laden vehicle into the gate and carried out a subsequent suicide bombing. “The resulting explosion caused the building to collapse, resulting in multiple casualties. All six militants were engaged and killed,” the ISPR statement said.

The battle-ready troops were staying at a school compound adjacent to the Daraban police station to conduct search and strike operations in the area, where militancy has seen a significant spike over the past month.

According to local officials, an explosive-laden vehicle was rammed into the



compound to clear the way for militants to enter the building. The first explosion was followed by multiple suicide blasts inside the school building.

The Bomb Disposal Squad said more than 100kg of high-grade explosives were used in the attack, which residents said continued for more than an hour. The slain and the wounded were moved to the Combined Military Hospital in D.I. Khan Cantonment by the Rescue 1122 officials.

The military said that seventeen terrorists were killed in Darazinda on the night between Monday and Tuesday and their hideout was busted. Four more militants were killed in another operation in Kulachi the same night, in which two soldiers also lost their lives, bringing the total number of soldiers martyred in the district to twenty-five, the statement said.

The TJP claimed responsibility for the attack and also released a two-minute video, purporting to show militants targeting security personnel with thermal scopes. Security officials, however, claimed the video was not authentic.

A TJP spokesman, in his claim, said four bombers who took part in the attack hailed from Lakki, Dera Ismail Khan, Swat, and Mardan districts. Pakistan has recently been claiming the involvement of Afghan nationals in terrorist attacks and the statement by the TJP appears to challenge that assertion.