By Staff Reporter
ISLAMABAD: Suspected Islamist militants attacked a Pakistani army base in the southwestern Balochistan province early Wednesday, killing four soldiers and wounding five others in a brazen assault that highlighted the security challenges facing the country.
The army said in a statement that the attackers, armed with guns, grenades and rockets, stormed the base in Zhob district of Balochistan province around 4 a.m. local time and engaged in a fierce firefight with the troops.
Three of the attackers were killed and two others were being pursued, the military’s media wing, the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), said in a statement.
A new jihadist group, Tehreek-e-Jihad Pakistan, claimed responsibility for the attack.
The statement said terrorists’ initial attempt “to sneak into the facility was checked by soldiers on duty”.
“In ensuing heavy exchange of fire, the terrorists have been contained into a small area at the boundary,” the ISPR said.
“A clearance operation by security forces is under way to apprehend remaining two terrorists as well… Security forces remain determined to thwart all such ghastly attempts at destroying peace of Balochistan and Pakistan.”
The attack came amid a surge in violence across Pakistan, especially in the restive provinces of Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, which border Afghanistan.
The Pakistani Taliban ended a ceasefire with the government in November and has since carried out several deadly attacks, including a mosque bombing that killed more than 100 people in Peshawar in January.
Pakistan blames Afghanistan for harboring militants who use its soil to launch cross-border attacks. The Afghan Taliban, which seized power in Kabul in August, denies this.
Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah condemned the attack and praised the security forces for foiling “a major catastrophe”.
He said the government was determined to eradicate terrorism and expressed solidarity with the families of the slain soldiers.
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