https://arab.news/cwqfv
- 23 Pakistani soldiers were killed in a suicide blast in northwestern Dera Ismail Khan on Tuesday
- PM Kakar praises soldiers’ conviction, says perpetrators of ‘terrorism’ have already lost the war
ISLAMABAD: Caretaker Prime Minister Anwaar-ul-Haq Kakar on Wednesday visited Pakistani soldiers who were injured in a deadly suicide attack in the northwestern Dera Ismail Khan district a day earlier, vowing the South Asian country will win its war against militants.
According to the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), six militants carried out a deadly attack in the early hours of Tuesday in the general area of Daraban when they targeted a military post with an explosive-laden vehicle. The military’s media wing said 23 Pakistani soldiers were killed in the attack.
Kakar visited the Combined Military Hospital (CMH) in Dera Ismail Khan to inquire after the health of the Pakistani soldiers injured in the blast, a statement from the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) said.
“They are fighting a lost war and we are fighting a war already won by us, Alhamdulillah,” Kakar told media outside the hospital.
Kakar said he was impressed with the conviction showed by Pakistani soldiers, who were determined to fight militants even while they were injured. He said those supporting the war against “terrorism” would stand victorious in this world and the hereafter.
“If they carry out one attack we will march 10 steps ahead,” Kakar vowed. “If they take 10 steps, we will advance by 100 steps. This is the war of the winners and we are with the winners, here in this world and in life hereafter.”
The Pakistani prime minister said the whole nation stood united against militants and had resolved to defeat the evil in all its forms and manifestations.
Tuesday’s attack was claimed by Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan, pointing to the ability of the militant network to generate extreme violence in the country’s frontier region with Afghanistan.
The TTP, which shares the same ideology of the Afghan Taliban but are a separate group, have launched some of the deadliest attacks against Pakistan’s security forces since over a decade-and-a-half. Suicide blasts and attacks on security forces have increased in Pakistan’s western regions bordering Afghanistan ever since a fragile truce between the TTP and Islamabad broke down in November 2022.
Pakistan has blamed the Afghan Taliban government for not taking action against militants, alleging that they use Afghan soil to launch attacks on Pakistan. Kabul has strongly denied the allegations.