Islamabad, Dec. 12, (dpa/GNA) – The death toll from the attack on security forces in north-western Pakistan has risen to 24, officials said on Tuesday.
The attack took place at a military facility in the city of Dera Ismail Khan in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, which borders Afghanistan.
A suicide bomber detonated an explosives-laden vehicle at the gate of the military camp while other terrorists engaged in a gun battle with security forces that lasted for hours.
“The number of soldiers who died in the attack has risen to 24,” intelligence sources told dpa.
More than 34 soldiers were wounded in the fierce gun battle following the suicide attack.
The security forces killed all six terrorists, the military’s media wing ISPR said in a statement.
There’s still the fear that the death toll might go up, officials said.
The attack comes at a time when Pakistan’s military chief General Asim Munir is on his first official visit to the United States.
Tehreek-e-Jihad Pakistan (TJP), a little-known group that emerged on the militancy scene in Pakistan recently and is affiliated with the Pakistani Taliban, claimed responsibility for the attack.
Caretaker Prime Minister Anwaarul Haq Kakar condemned the attack and said “Such cowardly actions cannot diminish the morale of the security forces.”
The Pakistani Taliban have stepped up attacks in recent months, particularly in north-western province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and south-western province of Balochistan – both of which border Afghanistan.
Earlier this month, gunmen opened fire on a passenger bus and killed at least eight people including soldiers in Gilgit-Baltistan region bordering China.
Last month, a Pakistani air force base came under attack in central Punjab province that the military said was repulsed successfully. Around two dozen soldiers and civilians were killed during the month.
Pakistan blames the Afghan Taliban administration for being lenient on the militants allegedly hiding in Afghanistan and launching cross-border attacks. Kabul denies the charge.
The simmering tensions between the neighbours have resulted in the expulsion of hundreds of thousands of undocumented Afghan refugees by Pakistan.