PESHAWAR, Pakistan (AP) — Attackers launched two suicide bombings to breach a wall at a military base in northwestern Pakistan while others stormed the compound and were repelled in violence that killed at least nine people and injured 25, officials and a local hospital said.
A group affiliated with the Pakistani Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack in Bannu, in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, and said dozens of Pakistani security forces were killed. The military did not immediately confirm any casualties, but Bannu District Hospital said at least nine people were dead.
Plumes of gray smoke rose into the air and gunshots continued after the two explosions, police officer Zahid Khan said. Four of those killed were children, hospital officials said. The victims lived close to the scene of the blasts.
The attacks happened after sunset, when people would have been breaking their fast during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.
A spokesman for Bannu District Hospital, Muhammad Noman, said the evening blasts badly damaged homes and other buildings. “The roofs and walls collapsed and that's why we are receiving casualties," he said.
The death toll could rise. The blasts caused the roof of a nearby mosque to collapse while a number of worshippers were inside, rescue workers and provincial government spokesman Muhammad Ali Saif said.
Rescue workers trying to free people from underneath the rubble said they had retrieved the body of the mosque's imam.
The two suicide bombers blew themselves up near the wall of the sprawling military area, a security official said, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to reporters.
“After a breach in the wall, five to six more attackers attempted to enter the cantonment but were eliminated,” the security official said.
Jaish Al-Fursan claimed responsibility for the attack, the third militant assault in Pakistan since Ramadan started Sunday. In a statement, the group said the source of the blasts were explosive-laden vehicles.
Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif condemned the attack and expressed his grief over the loss of life. The chief minister of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Ali Amin Gandapur, ordered an inquiry.
Militants have targeted Bannu several times. Last November, a suicide car bomb killed 12 troops and wounded several others at a security post.
In July, a suicide bomber detonated his explosives-laden vehicle and other militants opened fire near the outer wall of the military facility.
Riaz Khan, The Associated Press
