9 dead in suicide attack on cantonment in Pakistan

At least nine people were killed and 16 injured as two explosive-laden vehicles rammed into the boundary wall of the main cantonment in Bannu in northwest Pakistan on Tuesday while the army personnel neutralised at least six terrorists.

The suicide bombers hit the wall of Bannu Cantonment, about 200 km south-west of Peshawar, in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province in the evening around sunset time, police said.

Hafiz Gul Bahadur-affiliated little-known Jaish Al Fursan, in a statement, claimed the attack in Bannu. The group is one of the several factions of Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan.

Five casualties were reported from the nearby civil buildings while four bodies were recovered by the rescue authorities from the debris of a mosque adjacent to Bannu cantonment's boundary wall hit by the suicide bombers, sources said quoting the hospital authorities.

The 16 injured have been shifted to the hospital, sources added.

After the explosions, the cantonment wall was breached and at least five to six attackers attempted to enter the cantonment; however, they were neutralised, police added.

Sources said the army authorities have sealed the main routes leading to the cantonment and are not providing access to the blast site, adding that the security forces neutralised at least six terrorists who had entered the cantonment after suicide explosions.

Meanwhile, Chief Minister of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Ali Amin Gandapur condemned the Bannu explosion and sought a report on the incident.

Expressing sorrow over the loss of human lives, he extended sympathy and condolences to the families of the martyrs.

“Such incidents during the holy month of Ramadan are extremely condemnable and tragic,” Gandapur said.