KHYBER: Two soldiers lost their lives and four others were injured when their vehicle was targeted by an improvised explosive device (IED) in Bara tehsil of Khyber tribal district on Saturday, the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) said in a statement.

Local sources said the security forces’ vehicle was passing through Miangano Kalay Khearr (dry stream) in the Malakdin Khel locality in the afternoon when it was hit by the IED, which was planted in the dry stream.

The ISPR statement said Naib Subedar Hazrat Gul, 37, a resident of Lower Dir, and Sepoy Nazir Ullah Mehsud, 34, a resident of South Waziristan, embraced martyrdom.

“Sanitisation of the area is being carried out to eliminate any terrorists in the area,” it said, adding that security forces were determined to “eliminate the menace of terrorism and such sacrifices of our soldiers further strengthen our resolve”.

Local sources said that nearby civilians rushed to the scene of the blast immediately after the incident and shifted the bodies and the injured to a treatment centre.

The injured soldiers were identified as sepoys Wajid, Haris and Niaz, and civilian Adnan.

A spokesperson for the outlawed Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), Muhammad Khurasani, claimed responsibility for the IED attack but exaggerated the number of deaths.

The attack comes a day after the top civil and military leadership reaffirmed their commitment to thwart terror threats and vowed to relaunch the National Action Plan (NAP) within a fortnight to crush militants reportedly coming in from Afghanistan.

Without directly blaming the previous PTI government for the resurgence of terrorism in tribal districts along the border with Afghanistan, they agreed to initiate new multi-pronged and comprehensive operations, as well as combined efforts on the diplomatic, security, economic and social fronts to eliminate militants.

A newly formed committee would present its recommendations within two weeks to implement the policy and draw its parameters.

Security forces have already stepped up operations. On Wednesday, a key militant commander and his seven associates were killed during an intelligence-based operation carried out by security forces in the Shinwarsak area of South Waziristan tribal district.

Published in Dawn, April 9th, 2023