12 soldiers, 6 ultras killed in Pakistan suicide attack

Twelve security personnel and six terrorists were killed as a suicide bomber rammed an explosive-laden vehicle into a joint check post in Pakistan’s northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, the army said on Wednesday.

The terrorists attempted to attack a joint check post in general area of MaliKhel in Bannu district late on Tuesday night, but their attempt to enter the post was effectively thwarted by troops, the Inter-Services Public Relations, the army’s media wing, said.

The suicide blast led to collapse of a portion of perimeter wall and damaged the adjoining infrastructure, resulting in the death of 10 soldiers of the security forces and two soldiers of the Frontier Constabulary. In the ensuing fire exchange, six of them were killed too. Notably, the Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa provinces have seen a sharp rise in terrorism-related incidents in the last year.