Over 17 killed in 2 bomb attacks, gunfight in northwest Pakistan

AFP :

Two bomb attacks and a gunfight between police and militants in northwest Pakistan killed at least 14 security personnel and three civilians including a child, officials said.

The separate incidents in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province on Monday, which left dozens more wounded, come as Pakistan’s security forces battle intensifying insurgencies in southern and northern provinces that border Afghanistan.

This month the Islamic State (IS) group claimed responsibility for a massive suicide blast at a Shiite mosque in the capital Islamabad that killed 31 people and wounded 169 others.

The latest attacks in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa targeted a checkpoint and a police station, according to a military statement and a security official.

Militants rammed an explosive-laden vehicle into a wall near a checkpoint in Bajaur district, killing 11 security personnel and a girl, the military said on Tuesday.

The explosion caused “severe destruction” to nearby residential buildings, “leading to the martyrdom of one innocent young girl” and injuring seven others, the military statement said.

It branded the assault “a cowardly terrorist attack,” which it blamed on an “Indian proxy” group.

The statement said security forces killed a dozen militants as they were fleeing the scene.

A security official, speaking to AFP on condition of anonymity, said the vehicle hit the wall of a religious college.

In another attack in the town of Bannu, a bomb planted in a rickshaw exploded at the Miryan police station, killing two civilians and wounding 17 others, the official said.

Elsewhere in the same province, three police personnel and three militants were killed during a search operation in Shangla district.

The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa police force said in a statement on Monday that the three slain militants had been involved in “attacks targeting Chinese nationals.”

Beijing has poured billions of dollars into Pakistan in recent years, but Chinese-funded projects have sparked resentment and their citizens have frequently come under attack.

In March last year, five Chinese nationals working on a major dam construction site were killed along with their driver when a suicide bomber targeted their vehicle, which plunged into a deep ravine off the mountainous Karakoram Highway.

Beijing is Islamabad’s closest regional ally, readily providing financial assistance to bail out its often struggling neighbor.

The China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) has seen tens of billions of dollars funneled into massive transport, energy and infrastructure projects — part of Beijing’s transnational “Belt and Road” scheme.

The police statement cited “a persistent threat to the strategic road corridor and Chinese development projects” as the reason behind Monday’s operation.