(UnitedVoice.com) – Pakistan and Afghanistan share a border. Their proximity, coupled with their extremist governments, makes them ripe for terrorist attacks. That’s exactly what happened, and a lot of people are dead.
On December 12, a suicide bomber detonated his vehicle at the main gate of the Daraban police station in Dera Ismail Khan in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province. The area, which is a former stronghold of the Pakistani Taliban, borders Afghanistan. Local police officer Kamal Khan told The Associated Press that security forces from across Pakistan were deployed at the station to conduct intelligence operations against militants in the area at the time of the attack.
At least 23 soldiers died in the attack, and another 32 suffered injuries. The Pakistani Islamist group Tehreek-e-Jihad Pakistan (TJP) claimed responsibility for the attack. The group is an offshoot of the Pakistani Taliban. The group was established in February 2023, making it a relatively new militant group, but it’s carried out multiple attacks on the Pakistani military and security forces this year.
In July, the group attacked soldiers in the Balochistan province and killed 12 people. The Pakistani government believes the Pakistani Taliban was emboldened when the Afghan Taliban took over the country. Pakistan’s Foreign Ministry called a Taliban-appointed representative from Kabul to express the need to fully investigate the attack and take action against those responsible.
The Pakistani military told the press that a gun attack was carried out in another area. The shootout lasted for hours. The military said it was carrying out operations to make sure they were able to “eliminate any other terrorist present in the area.”
Pakistan’s Interior Minister Sarfraz Bugti called the bombing an “act of terrorism.” President Arif Alvi issued a statement of condolences to the families who lost loved ones. He said “their sacrifices would not go to waste” and promised the attacks wouldn’t weaken the resolve of authorities.
Copyright 2023, UnitedVoice.com
