By Staff Reporter
ISLAMABAD: Security forces rescued all 550 students and nearly 40 teachers from a military-run cadet college in the northwestern tribal region of South Waziristan on Tuesday, where three Afghan militants remained holed up in an administrative building after a brazen suicide attack on the facility the previous day, officials said.
The security forces extended a tense clearance operation into the second day at Cadet College Wana against militants who had stormed the facility with the apparent intent of taking hostages, officials said. State-run PTV reported that approximately 650 individuals, including 525 cadets, were present at the time of the attack.
Three people were killed during the operation, Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi told reporters in Islamabad, though he did not specify their identities. “Three have been martyred,” Naqvi said. “The terrorists had planned to hold them (cadets) hostage there, but their plan could not materialise… the clearance of the area is underway and will be completed in a bit.”
Security forces killed two militants on Monday after the attackers rammed an explosives-laden vehicle into the college’s main gate, collapsing it and damaging an adjacent structure, according to a statement from the military’s media wing, the Inter-Services Public Relations. The remaining three militants, all identified by officials as Afghan nationals, were cornered in a building far from the cadets’ residences, and the clearance operation continued until the last terrorist was eliminated, security sources said.
“There were around 550 students and nearly 40 teachers inside the college,” Naqvi said. “By the grace of God, our soldiers saved everyone there.” The terrorists were “continuously taking directives from Afghanistan on the telephone” and that their “communication with their people in Afghanistan also continued the entire night.” “We are very clear in that Afghanistan is directly involved in the entire attack,” Naqvi said. “…Afghanistan must stop them under all circumstances,” Naqvi said. “In case of not stopping them, we will have no other option but to deal with the terrorists who are attacking our country.”
Security officials said three militants, described as Afghan khwarij, had been confined to a specific building far from the cadets’ residence, with forces surrounding the area. The term khwarij is used by the state for militants associated with the banned Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan, also known as Fitna al Khawarij.“The security operation will continue until the last militant is sent to hell,” sources said. Following the evacuation of civilians, they added, the “operation will now be brought to a comprehensive and decisive conclusion.”
The assault on Cadet College Wana began early Monday when militants tried to breach the perimeter, the military said. After security personnel repelled the initial attempt, the attackers detonated the vehicle at the main gate. The intruders then entered the campus and were cornered in the administrative block. “Displaying unwavering courage and professional excellence, own troops engaged the intruders with precision, eliminating two khwarij belonging to Indian proxy, Fitna al Khawarij,” the military statement said
The military said the attackers were in contact with handlers in Afghanistan during the operation and were receiving instructions. “This blatant act of barbarism orchestrated by khwarij from Afghanistan is in contrast to assertions made by the Afghan Taliban Regime claiming non-presence of these terrorist groups on their soil,” the statement said.
The episode evoked memories of the 2014 attack on the Army Public School in Peshawar, where militants killed 147 people, including 132 schoolchildren, in one of Pakistan’s deadliest terrorist strikes. “These khwarij belonging to Indian proxy, Fitna al Khawarij have once again tried to repeat the barbaric act of terrorism carried out by them in Army Public School Peshawar in 2014,” the military said.
Officials described the latest attempt as an effort to instill fear among tribal youth pursuing education in the region, “who are acquiring quality education at their doorstep to excel in life and achieve a better future for not only themselves and their families but also for their communities.”
The attack came amid a surge in violence in Pakistan’s northwestern border regions. Hours before the assault on the college, the military announced that at least 20 militants had been killed in separate operations over the weekend in North Waziristan and Dara Adam Khel districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province. Those clashes, conducted between Nov. 8 and 9, formed part of a broader campaign against insurgents under Operation Azm-i-Istehkam, approved by the government last June. In Shawal, a rugged area in North Waziristan, security forces killed eight militants in an intelligence-based operation. In Dara Adam Khel, 12 more were killed in an intense firefight.The weekend tally brought the total to at least 24 militants killed in three engagements across Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan, according to the military.
Violence has escalated since the TTP ended a ceasefire with the government in November 2022 and pledged to target security personnel. The group, which operates from bases in Afghanistan, has been blamed for a wave of attacks, particularly in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan. The uptick has strained relations with Afghanistan’s Taliban government, which Pakistan accuses of harboring militants.
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