By Staff Reporter
PESHAWAR: The security forces carried out two drone strikes in a remote border area of Mohmand district, killing at least eight suspected militants and wounding four others, while unidentified attackers blew up a primary school in North Waziristan, officials said on Friday.
The strikes hit Alingar village near the Pakistan-Afghanistan border on the night of Dec. 10, a police official said. “The strikes were precise and aimed at a gathering of militants,” the source said, adding that surveillance and verification efforts were ongoing to ascertain the exact number of casualties and identities of those killed.
The area has no police posts or government installations, and remains under heightened security with forces conducting searches to prevent any retaliatory actions. There was no official comment from the district administration or the military’s Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR).
Separately, attackers planted explosives inside a government primary school in the Khushali area of Mir Ali tehsil in North Waziristan and detonated them on Wednesday night, destroying a significant portion of the building. The blast was heard miles away, officials said, putting the education of more than 600 enrolled students in jeopardy as it was the only functional primary school in the area.
No group has claimed responsibility. Authorities cordoned off the remaining sections of the building, while an emergency plan for alternate learning arrangements was under consideration. Local elders and parents expressed deep concern, calling attacks on educational institutions “a direct assault on the future of children”.
The incident follows a terrorist attack on Cadet College Wana in Lower South Waziristan weeks ago, an explosion that partially damaged a girls’ primary school in Lakki Marwat in October, and the bombing of a private girls’ school in Shewa tehsil of North Waziristan in May last year.
In a related development, five police officers were injured when terrorists from the banned Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), launched a late-night attack on a checkpost in the Shaikh Landak area of Bannu district in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa on Thursday.
A statement from the regional police officer’s spokesperson, Kashif Nawaz, said police personnel repelled the attack with effective retaliatory fire, leading to heavy casualties among the terrorists. The exchange of fire continued for three hours, with reports suggesting several terrorists were killed and injured.
Armed tribesmen and members of the peace committee supported the police in the gunfight. The five officers sustained minor injuries and were taken to hospital. On instructions from Bannu Deputy Inspector General Sajjad Khan, additional personnel reached the scene and surrounded the area.
Bannu District Police Officer Yasir Afridi visited the injured officers at the hospital.“Bannu police have once again proven that it stands as a strong wall in front of the enemies of peace. The war against terrorism will continue until the last terrorist is eliminated,” the statement quoted him as saying.
The attack came amid tense conditions in the area following a quadcopter strike by terrorists on a playground during a football match on Thursday, which injured at least seven people, including minors.
Pakistan has seen a surge in militant attacks, particularly in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan, since the TTP ended a ceasefire with the government in November 2022 and vowed to target security forces and law enforcement personnel.
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