Pakistan has blamed India for a deadly suicide attack which has claimed the lives of 13 of its elite infantry soldiers in North Waziristan.
In a major blow to Pakistan military efforts to stabilise the restive region of Waziristan, at least 13 Pakistani soldiers have been killed and dozens injured in a suicide bombing in the country’s north-western Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province near the Afghan border on Saturday, June 28.
According to a statement released by Pakistan military’s PR wing, the soldiers died after an explosive-laden vehicle struck a military convoy in Mir Ali, a district of North Waziristan.
Pakistani security officials have further stated that the coordinated attack occurred when a suicide bomber detonated explosives near a bomb disposal unit vehicle belonging to the 22 Frontier Force Regiment.
At least 24 personnel of the infantry regiment and 14 civilians were also injured in the attack.
The Pakistani army has laid the blame for the deadly attack firmly at India’s door, with an official ISPR statement saying that the attack on its troops was “planned and orchestrated by the terrorist state of India”.
The attack is one of the deadliest single-day attacks on security forces in recent months in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province.
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Reports say that 14 suspected attackers were also killed in the intense gunfight that followed the attack on the military convoy.
Following recent attacks on security forces in the Waziristan, Khyber and Kurram districts of KPK province, Pakistan’s military has stepped up intelligence-based operations in the region.
The location of the latest attack, Mir Ali, is a deeply conservative tribal area which has traditionally been a strong-hold of the TTP (Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan) and the scene of bitter battles in the past between Pakistan Army and TTP fighters.
Although Islamabad usually accuses the TTP of carrying out such attacks in the country, the Pakistani government was swift this time to lay the full blame on India for Saturday’s attack. Pakistan suspects that New Delhi is providing financial and logistical support to the TTP to attack Pakistan’s security forces.
Pakistan’s military has said that the operations in the area would continue and that the perpetrators of the cowardly attack would be brought to justice.
“The security forces of Pakistan remain steadfast in their resolve to eradicate Indian-sponsored terrorism from the country”, said an official statement issued by the ISPR.
International support
Pakistan’s traditional allies, Turkiye and Azerbaijan, have been swift in their condemnation of the suicide attack and have pledged full support for the government and the people of Pakistan.
“We express heartfelt condolences to the Government and people of brotherly Pakistan, and the families of the victims,” said a statement issued by the Azeri Foreign Ministry, calling the incident a “heinous” and “cowardly” act of terrorism.
Baku reiterated its “unwavering stance against all forms of terrorism,” stressing that such acts pose “a grave threat to peace and security.”
Earlier today, Turkiye’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan expressed his condolences to the victims of the attack and their families, stating: “I pray to Allah for mercy on our Pakistani brothers and sisters who lost their lives in the attack, and wish a speedy recovery to the wounded.”
He also conveyed his condolences to the “friendly and brotherly people and government of Pakistan.”
“As always, Türkiye will continue to stand by our longstanding friend Pakistan in its fight against terrorism,” Erdogan said, adding that Ankara stands by “our brothers not only in joyful times but also during difficult days.”
According to a statement issued by the Indian Ministry of External Affairs, India has rejected any involvement in the attack.
