By Staff Reporter
ISLAMABAD: A civilian worker with Pakistan’s Frontier Works Organisation was killed and three others, including an army major, were wounded when an improvised explosive device detonated near their vehicle in the remote Tangir valley of Diamer district on Thursday, military officials said, adding that two militants were later killed in a gunfight.
The attack occurred around 11:16 am near Tangir Bridge, about one kilometre from an FWO camp, as the vehicle carried out a routine inspection along Tangir Bushidas Road, according to a statement from the military’s Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) wing. “As a result of the explosion, a local civilian driver was martyred while three people, including a major identified as Zeeshan, received injuries,” the ISPR statement said.
Security forces quickly sealed off the area and launched a search operation, during which troops exchanged fire with militants, killing two and wounding three others. No group has claimed responsibility for the blast. The injured were taken to government hospitals in nearby Chilas for treatment. The funeral for the slain FWO driver was held in Chilas, attended by senior officials including the Diamer deputy commissioner, Diamer Astore Range Deputy Inspector General Farrukh Rashid and army officers. The body was later transported to the driver’s native area in Punjab province for burial.
Security forces continued cordon and search operations in the area on Friday, the ISPR said. “This cowardly act is an attempt to disrupt the peaceful environment of the area, which will be foiled at all costs,” the statement said. “The Pakistan Army and security agencies are fully alert to establish peace in Gilgit-Baltistan and the safety of the people will be ensured at all costs.”
Gilgit-Baltistan Caretaker Chief Minister retired Justice Yar Muhammad condemned the attack in a statement, blaming it on “Fitna al Khawarij” – a term used by authorities for militants linked to the banned Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP). He said the militants were carrying out “cowardly acts to create unrest and destabilise the country,” adding that the government would take action to bring them to justice and that law enforcement agencies would “make an example” of them.
The attack comes amid sporadic militant activity in the region. On Aug. 29 last year, two soldiers from the Gilgit-Baltistan Scouts were killed and another wounded when militants fired on their checkpoint along the Karakoram Highway in Diamer district. Two days later, on Aug. 31, four police personnel were injured in an attack on their patrol van near Babusar Top, on the border with Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province. The TTP claimed responsibility for both incidents.
Diamer, part of the Gilgit-Baltistan region, has seen occasional violence linked to Islamist militants, though major infrastructure projects like those handled by the FWO – a military-linked engineering firm involved in road and dam construction – have often been targeted in efforts to disrupt development in the area.
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