By Mushtaq Ali
PESHAWAR, Pakistan, Feb 17 (Reuters) – Militants rammed a vehicle filled with explosives into an army checkpoint in northwestern Pakistan, killing 11 security personnel and a child, the military said on Tuesday, as the South Asian nation battles a surge in violence.
Women and children were among seven wounded in Monday’s attack in Bajur district, which lies along the border with Afghanistan, the military said.
The militants drove into the wall of a checkpoint after security forces blocked their attempt to enter a residential compound for soldiers, the military said, adding 12 attackers were killed as they attempted to flee the scene.
The Islamist Pakistani Taliban, also known as Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan, claimed responsibility for the attack.
The TTP has waged a war against the state since 2007 in a bid to enforce their strict brand of Islamic governance on the predominantly Muslim nation.
It has stepped up its attacks since it revoked a ceasefire with Islamabad in late 2022.
Pakistan blames Afghanistan for providing a safe haven to the militants, a charge Kabul’s Taliban government has repeatedly denied.
A rare bombing at a mosque in the capital Islamabad earlier this month killed over 30 people during Friday prayers. The attack was claimed by the Islamic State militant group, raising fears that Pakistan could be dealing with a resurgence of militancy on multiple fronts.
(Reporting by Mushtaq Ali in Peshawar and Asif Shahzad in Islamabad, writing by Sakshi Dayal; Editing by YP Rajesh and Saad Sayeed)
