Taliban dare Pakistan with two deadly attacks

• Six army men among two lieutenant colonels martyred in Taliban attacks in Fateh Jang and Bajaur Agency
• Suicide bomber targets security vehicle near railway crossing at Fateh Jang, kills two officers
• Taliban mount cross-border attack in Bajaur, kill four soldiers, injure three others

In what is being seen as the final blow to the already lifeless government-Taliban peace talks, Wednesday witnessed the martyrdom of six armymen, killing of five terrorists and three civilians in two offensives carried out by the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) in Fateh Jang and Bajaur Agency.

While a Taliban suicide bomber attacked a military vehicle near Rawalpindi, the terrorist also engaged in a heavily armed clash with the armed forces in Bajaur.

ISPR Director General Asim Bajwa said that two lieutenant colonels and three civilians were killed on Wednesday when a Taliban suicide bomber hit their twin cabin vehicle near Rawalpindi. Lt Cols Zahir Shah and Arshad Hussain were martyred in the blast, Bajwa said on micro-blogging website Twitter.

The attack was carried out when the officers were on their way to a military installation near Fateh Jang at 9:20am. The vehicle was attacked near a railway crossing in the locality. Two civilians including a rickshaw driver were also killed in the blast.

Military helicopters were called in at the spot soon after the attack to move the dead and injured to a hospital. Meanwhile, other helicopters were called in to carry out a search operation in the area. The area was cordoned off by security forces personnel and evidence was collected from the location.

Later on, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and Federal Defence Minister Khwaja Asif marked their presence at the officers’ funeral prayers at Joint Chiefs Headquarters in Rawalpindi.

BAJAUR ATTACK:

Meanwhile in Bajaur, four soldiers and five militants were killed while three other soldiers sustained injuries in cross-border firing after militants attacked Pakistan Army’s checkposts from Afghan side of the border.

ISPR confirmed that the attack took place on Mano Zangal and Makaha top checkposts where four soldiers on duty embraced martyrdom.

Security sources said that after outlawed Taliban militants attacked the checkposts using heavy weapons, the Pakistan Army killed five terrorists in retaliatory fire, while other militants managed to escape to the Afghan side.

Official sources said that this was the third major attack on Pakistani checkposts from across the border since May 25. In a similar incident on May 31, some 200 militants attacked army checkposts where in a counter offensive by the army, around 15 terrorists were killed.

TALIBAN DID IT:

The banned Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) claimed the responsibility for the two attacks near Rawalpindi and Bajaur.

In a statement, TTP spokesman Shahidullah Shahid said the suicide bombing near Fateh Jang was carried out by a TTP bomber while they also engaged in cross-border firing in Bajaur.

As opposed to ISPR’s record of casualties, the TTP spokesman claimed that the Taliban killed about 20 armymen in Bajaur attack which comes in the wake of military action and airstrikes in the North Waziristan tribal region.

The intelligence sources also cite the involvement of Mullah Fazlullah led militants, based in Kunar and Nuristan along Bajaur and Mohmand agencies, in the cross-border attacks along with some foreign elements.

The attack is also likely to cast another blow to the currently hampered peace process with TTP. The two parties had even managed to agree on a ceasefire which lasted for 40 days but was not renewed in the wake of bomb blasts in parts of the country.