Pakistan: Suicide blast kills 6, including 3 children, in NW Pakistan
By Aamir Latif
KARACHI, Pakistan (AA) – At least six people, including three children, were killed in a suspected suicide attack on an army convoy in northwest Pakistan, near Afghanistan border, the military said on Sunday.
The blast occurred in the vicinity of Miranshah, the capital of restive North Waziristan district, a former stomping ground of Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), a consortium of different militant outfits in Pakistan, said an army statement.
Resultantly, it added, three troops and as many children lost their lives.
“Lance Havaldar Zubair Qadir (resident of Pakpatan, age 33 years) Sepoy Uzair Asfar (resident of Haripur, age 21 years) Sepoy Qasim Maqsood (resident of Multan, age 22 years) and 3 innocent children Ahmed Hassan (age 11 years), Ahsan (age 8 years), and Anum (age 4 years) embraced shahadat [martyrdom],” read statement by Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR).
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif condemned the suicide attack and expressed grief over the lives lost.
Shehbaz paid tribute to the soldiers, and offered his condolences to the families of the children.
“The killers of innocent children are the enemies of both Islam and humanity. We will not sit idle until this brutality is eradicated,” he said.
Information Minister Marriyum Aurangzeb condemned the incident and offered her condolences to the families of those martyred in the blast.
According to Radio Pakistan, the minister said miscreants wanted to “destabilise law and order in the country”. She also said that the sacrifices rendered by the security personnel would not go in vain.
No group has so far claimed responsibility for the attack. However, security agencies blame the TTP, which has long been targeting the security forces reportedly from across the border.
On April 23, at least three Pakistan Army soldiers were killed when terrorists opened fire on the troops from across the Pak-Afghan border in the Dewagar area of North Waziristan.
The TTP was pushed toward Afghanistan in 2014 following a large-scale military onslaught in the northwestern tribal belt, mainly North Waziristan, the militant group’s former headquarters.
Since then, according to Pakistan’s military, the group has been operating from the Afghan side of the border.
Pakistan, which is believed to have a degree of influence over the Taliban, had expected a halt in attacks from the Afghan side of the border after the Taliban rose to power, but the country has still been facing a series of deadly attacks.
Additional report by The Muslim News
[Map of Pakistan from the CIA Factbook/Public Domain]
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