Pakistani forces kill militant commander behind deadly Gilgit-Baltistan bus attack — official

Transporters have blocked the road in Skardu after a passenger bus was targeted by unidentified militants in the Diamer district of Gilgit-Baltistan, Pakistan on December 3, 2023. (Photo courtesy: GB Tourist Police/File)

• Commander Shah Faisal masterminded the bus attack on Karakoram Highway that claimed the lives of nine passengers
• Gilgit-Baltistan spokesperson says two security forces officials got minor injuries during the intelligence-based operation

KHAPLU, Gilgit-Baltistan: Pakistani security forces have killed a militant commander involved in an attack on a passenger bus in northern Gilgit-Baltistan (GB) last December, confirmed a senior government functionary in the region, who said the action was part of an intelligence-based operation.
Nine people lost their lives, while 21 others were injured when militants used firearms to target a bus on the Karakoram Highway that connects Pakistani cities with its border with China.
The bus was carrying passengers from Gilgit to Rawalpindi. The attack occurred in the Hudur area of Chilas district, causing the driver to lose control and crash into a truck, which caught fire immediately.
The GB official informed the operation took place in Darel Valley of Diamer district, a place where extremist violence has been reported in the past, with some incidents claimed by the banned armed network Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan.
In 2018, militants torched 13 girls’ schools in the area, while six years before that, unidentified gunmen killed nine passengers and torched six buses in the region.
“The operation is still continuing against the culprits involved in the Hudur incident,” Faizullah Faraq, the official spokesperson for the GB administration, told Arab News on the phone. “The mastermind of the incident, Commander Shah Faisal, has been killed by the security forces today.”
He said the operation was planned after three facilitators of the militants targeting the bus were arrested and interrogated.
“They pointed out the culprits involved in the attack and said Commander Shah Faisal was the mastermind,” he continued. “So, the operation was launched today to arrest the culprits. However, they resisted and started firing at the security forces.”
Faraq said it was during the exchange of fire that the militant leader was killed.
“Cross-firing is continuing in the region,” he added. “The security forces have not suffered any loss of life. However, two army personnel got minor injuries, but their condition is stable.”
The military’s media wing, ISPR, has yet to issue a statement about the development.