(AhlulBayt News Agency) - Pakistan's military and officials say a group of militants have attacked a mosque at an army facility in northwest Pakistan, triggering a shootout in which four insurgents and two soldiers were killed.
The army in a statement said 14 troops were also wounded in Saturday's suicide attack on Ghalani Camp in Mohmand tribal region bordering Afghanistan.
It said the attackers wanted to enter the camp and started firing after they reached the mosque, where residents and a large number of recruits were present. It said the attackers were "contained in the outer courtyard" of the mosque, and subsequently all four died.
Two security officials also confirmed the account and said a search operation is underway to trace and arrest any accomplices of the attackers.
Jamaat-ul-Ahrar, a breakaway faction of the Pakistani Taliban, claimed responsibility for the attack. A spokesman for the militant group said the assault was in response to alleged torture of detained militants.
Pakistani army has conducted several operations to eliminate militant hideouts in the Mohmand tribal region.
The country has been battling al-Qaeda-linked terrorists and pro-Taliban militants for years, especially after the US-led invasion of neighboring Afghanistan in 2001 and the subsequent spillover of militancy into the region.
Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has vowed to continue operations against militants until they are eliminated in the country.
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source : AP
Saturday
26 November 2016
1:28:19 PM
794390
Pakistan's military and officials say a group of militants have attacked a mosque at an army facility in northwest Pakistan, triggering a shootout in which four insurgents and two soldiers were killed.