Militancy continues to rear its ugly head across Pakistan, with the military’s media wing confirming the martyrdom of a soldier and two civilians in a suicide bombing in North Waziristan’s Miranshah on Monday, hours before dozens of militants stormed a police station in South Waziristan’s Wana, injuring a police official.
According to the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), Naik Abid, 33, from Mansehra was martyred in the suicide bombing alongside two civilians. It said a third civilian had been injured in the incident.
Separately, one police official was injured and a terrorist killed when dozens of militants—reportedly belonging to the banned Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan—stormed a police station in Wana, South Waziristan.
According to local media, the militants—believed to number around 50—vastly outnumbered the police, prompting them to surrender. Subsequently, the militants stole all weapons and ammunition at the station and fled in police vehicles. Media reports have further alleged that the militants attacked the police station with RPGs, hand grenades, and other light weapons.
Following the assault, security forces launched a search operation and initiated an investigation into the incident.
The terror incidents occurred amidst a hostage situation in Bannu, where TTP militants had taken six officials of the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Counter-Terrorism Department hostage and were demanding “safe passage” to either North or South Waziristan. The situation persisted for three days before being resolved by a military operation on Tuesday afternoon.
Last month, the TTP unilaterally ended a ceasefire agreed with the federal government last year and directed its militants to stage terrorist attacks across the country “wherever they can.” The re-emergence of terrorism has prompted lawmakers to demand a rethink of Pakistan’s counter-terrorism strategy but there has been little forward movement on this thus far.