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20-08-2023
By SJA Jafri
ISLAMABAD/ NORTH WAZIRISTAN: Eleven (11) people were killed in a suspected militant attack in northern Pakistan, caretaker Prime Minister Anwaar-ul-Haq Kakar said on Sunday.
Kakar posted on X, previously known as Twitter, that a “terrorist attack” in North Waziristan “claimed the lives of 11 innocent laborers.”
According to security and police officials, a suspected Improvised Explosive Device (IED) detonated beneath a truck transporting workers to an army construction site in Waziristan, situated in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province near the Afghanistan border.
No organization has yet taken responsibility for the incident but independent sources told PMI that the ISIL also known as Daesh (a group of Taliban).
Rise in Islamist militant attacks
Over the past year, Pakistan has witnessed an uptick in attacks orchestrated by Islamist militants, especially after the dissolution of a cease-fire agreement between the Pakistani Taliban, known as Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), and the national government.
Other extremist groups, including the so-called “Islamic State,” have claimed responsibility for several attacks.
A major explosion at a political gathering in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa organized by a religious faction last month resulted in the deaths of 45 individuals.
Other armed groups, including ISIL (ISIS), have also claimed responsibility for some attacks, including a large blast at a political rally in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Bajaur district held by a religious group last month that killed 63. The Islamic State in Khorasan Province (ISKP or ISIS-K), an ISIL affiliate, was said to be behind the attack.
Pakistan blames Afghanistan
Islamabad has blamed Kabul for a string of deadly attacks in Pakistan’s tribal region bordering Afghanistan. Top Pakistani officials accuse the Taliban administration of not doing enough to control the movement of armed groups from crossing the porous border.
However, the Taliban administration has rejected the Pakistani allegations.
“After the recent security incident in Pakistan, officials have once again blamed Afghans instead of strengthening the security of their country,” Zabihullah Mujahid, chief spokesman for the Taliban administration, said in a statement earlier this month.
More than 300 attacks have hit Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province this year alone, according to official data, with a vast majority of them claimed by the TTP.
