On Wednesday, 13 people were hurt and a Frontier Corps (FC) official was slain when security forces stopped a suicide attempt in Zhob, according to officials.
Zhob Assistant Commissioner Naveed Alam told Dawn.com that at 3:40 a.m. today, there was an attack on the Joint Response Center in the Sabakzai neighborhood of Zhob.
He claimed that “terrorists attacked the center from three sides, while security forces killed a suicide bomber as he attempted to enter the building.”
Five troops, ten Levies employees, and forty-five FC executives were inside the premises when the attack occurred, according to Alam.
“Havaldar Jam Sher was martyred during retaliatory fire,” he claimed, saying that two of the 13 injured were civilians.
He also mentioned that during the day, security personnel went to the impacted area to gather information.
In an armed incident on the Zhob-Dera Ismail Khan highway last month, an officer of the Balochistan Anti-Terrorist Force (ATF) was martyred and three others were hurt.
“We eliminated two terrorists”: ISPR
Later on in the day, a statement from the military’s media wing said that two terrorists had been neutralized as the attackers were being repelled.
The Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) statement said, “The attempt to enter the camp was effectively thwarted by the security forces personnel, and as a result, two terrorists, including a suicide bomber and HVT Terrorist Umar @ Umari, were sent to hell, before they could cause the intended damage.”
“The statement further stated that terrorist Umar@ Umari was involved in multiple acts of terrorism against both security forces and innocent civilians, including the recent attack on Deputy Commissioner Sherani’s convoy.”
In order to eliminate any further terrorists in the area, the ISPR also stated that a sanitization operation was in progress.
In line with the country, Pakistan’s security forces are committed to stopping any attempt to undermine Balochistan’s peace, stability, and advancement. The statement went on to say, “Such sacrifices of our brave men further strengthen our resolve.”
“Reduction” in assaults
The Pak Institute for Peace Studies (PIPS) releases a monthly security report, and in September 2024, there were 45 terrorist assaults nationwide, which is a 24% decrease from the previous month.
54 persons were killed as a result of these attacks (including 29 security officers, 16 civilians, and 9 terrorists), down from 84 previous month, while 117 more were injured.
The province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa was the most affected, with 27 terrorist events reported there, followed by 17 in Balochistan and 1 in Punjab.
According to the report, there were 27 terrorist strikes in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa that resulted in 35 fatalities and 70 injuries.
These attacks were carried out by the outlawed Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), the Gul Bahadur Group, the Islamic State-Khorasan, and a few local Taliban organizations.
September 2024 saw no terrorist attacks reported in any region of Sindh. Nonetheless, one police officer was hurt in a purported incident in Punjab.
Five strikes in all were reported from Afghanistan’s border with Pakistan.
