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Four Pakistan Army soldiers were martyred while five others were critically injured after militants launched a “dastardly attack” on the Zhob garrison in northern Balochistan during the early hours of Wednesday, the military’s media affairs wing said.
In a statement, the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) said that terrorists’ initial attempt “to sneak into the facility was checked by soldiers on duty”.
“In ensuing heavy exchange of fire, the terrorists have been contained into a small area at the boundary,” the ISPR said, adding that three “heavily armed terrorists” had been killed so far.
“A clearance operation by security forces is under way to apprehend remaining two terrorists as well,” the statement said.
“Security forces remain determined to thwart all such ghastly attempts at destroying peace of Balochistan and Pakistan,” it added.
Earlier today, Zhob District Commissioner (DC) Azeem Kakar had told Dawn.com that the cantonment area in Zhob was under attack.
He further said that a woman civilian was killed after being caught in the crossfire while five other civilians were left injured. The official added that the severely injured were being referred to Quetta.
DC Kakar said that a passenger bus coming from Dera Ismail Khan was also caught in the firing. He added that “nothing can be said about the number of attackers”, and asserted that all departments were on alert and an operation was under way.
Meanwhile, Balochistan Chief Minister Mir Abdul Qudoos Bizenjo condemned the attack on the Zhob garrison and paid tribute to the Pakistan Army for thwarting it by taking swift action.
In a statement, he said that the nation was proud of the sacrifices made by the martyrs and also offered his condolences to their families. “Pakistan Army is the guarantor of peace and security in the region,” the chief minister said.
Increase in terror attacks
Pakistan has seen an uptick in terror activities, especially in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan, after the outlawed TTP ended its ceasefire with the government in November last year.
Earlier this month, four security personnel were martyred while a terrorist was killed after police and Levies checkposts in the Dhana Sar area of Balochistan’s Sherani subdistrict came under attack
A report released this month by think tank Pakistan Institute for Conflict and Security Studies said the first half of the current year witnessed a steady and alarming rise in terror and suicide attacks, claiming the lives of 389 people across the country.
In June, a police official was martyred and two more were injured in a suicide attack on a police van in Balochistan’s Turbat.
In an earlier incident the same month, two soldiers were martyred after a security forces’ checkpost in the Kech district along the Pakistan-Iran border came under attack.
In a press conference in June, Inter-Services Public Relations Director General Maj Gen Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry said that the security forces conducted 13,619 intelligence operations this year in which 1,172 terrorists were killed or arrested.
“On a daily basis, over 77 operations are being carried out by armed forces, police, intelligence agencies, and other law enforcement agencies to rid of the menace of terrorism,” he said.
DG Sharif added that 95 soldiers embraced martyrdom in these operations.