PESHAWAR: Two United Nations officials remained unhurt after unidentified gunmen targeted their vehicle in northwestern Pakistan on Tuesday, a police official confirmed, as Islamabad grapples with a surge in militant attacks in the country’s restive Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) province bordering Afghanistan.
A police spokesperson from Pakistan’s northwestern Tank district confirmed that unidentified gunmen opened indiscriminate fire on a UN vehicle near Hathala town in Dera Ismail Khan district. He said the two UN officials in the car remained unhurt.
“The UN vehicle was coming to Tank from D. I. Khan when it came under attack,” police spokesperson Muhammad Ibrahim told Arab News. “However, the two staffers are safe and have arrived in the district administration’s compound.”
Pakistan’s security forces have suffered a surge in attacks from the Pakistani Taliban or the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) group in the country’s western provinces bordering Afghanistan since an uneasy truce between the state and the banned outfit fell apart in November 2022.
The TTP, which seeks to impose its strict version of Islam in the South Asian country, has carried out some of the deadliest attacks against Pakistani civilians and security forces since 2007 before the army conducted multiple operations to drive them out of the tribal areas.
However, the banned outfit distanced itself from the attack in a statement, blaming the Pakistan Army instead for carrying out such attacks.
“Military operations against such institutions are carried out by Pakistan’s security institutions to restore their reputation and secure dollars from world powers,” TTP spokesperson Muhammad Khorasani said in a statement.
“The TTP’s objectives are clear and we will continue our war for our objectives, meaning against the security forces,” he added.
Repeated attacks from the TTP against Pakistan’s security forces have soured relations between Islamabad and Kabul. Pakistan has accused the Taliban of providing shelter to TTP militants to attack Pakistan. Kabul has denied the allegations and insisted it does not allow any group to launch attacks on other countries from its soil.
Ties further strained between the two countries after Pakistan launched a deportation drive last year targeting what it said were “illegal” immigrants in the country after a spike in suicide bombings. Islamabad, without providing evidence, blamed the surge in attacks on Afghan nationals. Pakistan has also said Afghan nationals are involved in smuggling, militant violence and other crimes in the country.
