Attacks in northwest Pakistan leave 20 dead in 24 hours

PESHAWAR, Pakistan, November 20 — A suicide attack in northwest Pakistan killed 12 soldiers, the military said Wednesday, following a separate clash that left eight dead in the same region bordering Afghanistan.

The suicide blast occurred on Tuesday and resulted in the deaths of "12 brave sons of soil", the army said in a statement. Six militants died in an exchange of fire between them and the soldiers right before the suicide attack in Bannu, in mountainous Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, the army added.

"The attempt to enter the post was effectively thwarted by own troops, which forced the (militants) to ram an explosive-laden vehicle into the perimeter wall of the post," the statement read. The Pakistani Taliban Hafiz Gul Bahadur armed group claimed responsibility for the attack. Pakistan's President Asif Ali Zardari expressed in a statement "his sorrow" and "his resolve to completely eradicate the curse of terrorism" while Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi condemned the attack.

The bombing occurred less than 24 hours after another attack, also in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, according to an intelligence official, who spoke on condition of anonymity. That clash on Monday lasted hours and resulted in the deaths of eight soldiers and nine militants in the Tirah area of the province, the officer said. The Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), also known as the Pakistani Taliban, later claimed responsibility for that attack, saying it was in response to a search by security forces targeting one of its fighters.

Near the checkpoint blast in Bannu, seven police officers had been taken hostage on Monday, but were released less than a day later. Their release came after negotiations between a jirga -- or tribal council -- and the captors. "All the kidnapped policemen have been released following successful negotiations led by local elders with militants," senior police official Muhammad Zia ud-Din told AFP.

He declined to provide further details. The TTP is separate from the Hafiz Gul Bahadur group, but both were active in supporting the Afghan Taliban in its war against the US-led NATO coalition since 2001. The Afghan Taliban reclaimed power in Kabul in 2021, and Pakistan's border areas have seen a resurgence of violence since then. The TTP claimed an attack in late October that left ten police officers dead at a check post in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

In southwestern Pakistan, seven soldiers were killed at a border post on Saturday by separatist fighters with the Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA) group. The incident came a week after a bombing by the same group killed 26 people, including 14 soldiers, at a train station in the provincial capital Quetta.a