• ‘Timely response averts major disaster’ but firing continues, officials say
• Casualties feared amid reports of damages to homes, shops

LAKKI MARWAT: An attempt by ‘terrorists’ to infiltrate the cantonment area in Bannu city was ‘foiled’ through a timely response by security forces on Monday morning, officials said.

However, a clearance drive launched in the area after the attack was still underway, with sporadic gunfire being reported from the area until late in the night.

Sources said that four security personnel were martyred, while scores others, including civilians, had suffered injuries.

No official statement, however, was issued by the military’s media wing.

Earlier in the morning, militants stormed a check post adjacent to a supply depot, officials said, adding that bombers hit the boundary wall of the cantonment near the depot in their attempt to force their entry but security forces besieged them.

“Two suicide bombers attacked the check post initially and then a few others managed to enter, but they were besieged,” the officials said.

They stated that security personnel were fully alert and engaged the militants foiling the attack with a timely response, adding that soldiers fought bravely.

The officials said that security forces launched a clearance and sanitisation drive in the area following the attack, but gunshots continued to ring out till filing of this report.

A police official said they increased patrolling in urban and rural localities of Bannu district after the explosion, adding that roads leading to the cantonment were sealed as part of measures to avert any loss to citizens during the exchange of fire between security forces and militants.

Locals said the magnitude of the blast could be judged from the fact that it was heard far and wide in the area. A resident said he heard the explosion in Domel town, some 15km from Bannu city. They said they saw black smoke billowing above the site and also heard gunshots in the cantonment area.

The residents said the blast caused damage to nearby houses and shops, smashed windowpanes and blew up shutters of outlets.

Pakistan has witnessed an uptick in terrorist activities in the past year, especially in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan, after the banned Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan ended its ceasefire with the government in November 2022.

Published in Dawn, July 16th, 2024