Pakistanis mourn 18 people, including 5 soldiers, killed in twin suicide bombing at army base

Peshawar: A city in northwestern Pakistan held funeral prayers and observed a day of mourning on Wednesday, after a twin suicide bombing targeted a military base there the evening before and killed 18 people, including five soldiers.

A militant group linked with the Pakistani Taliban claimed responsibility for the bombing in Bannu on Tuesday evening, which also left 42 wounded, some of them critically. It was the latest in a spate of violence, including suicide bombings, that has hit the country in recent days.

The attack unfolded with two suicide bombers first blowing themselves up to breach the wall surrounding the base. Most of the local residents were breaking their daylong fast during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan or praying at a nearby mosque.

The powerful blasts tore through walls and ripped off roofs and also severely damaged the mosque. After the explosions, other attackers stormed the compound and set off a firefight with the troops.

A statement from the army's media department on Wednesday said five soldiers and 16 militants were killed. It said the suicide bombers “rammed two explosive-laden vehicles into the perimeter wall" at the base.

Gunshots could still be heard early Wednesday as security forces combed through the area, looking to clear it of any militants involved in the attack. At the scene of the bombings, a mechanical digger was clearing away rubble where homes used to stand, and debris-covered prayer mats lay crumpled on the mosque floor.

A day of mourning was being observed, said Bannu community elder Alam Khan, and joint funeral prayers were held later in the day for the victims at a sports complex in the area.

“All education institutions are closed,” Khan said. “Most shops are also shut. Rescue workers have completed their operation by recovering the bodies of three deceased worshippers who were trapped under the collapsed roof of the mosque.”

Bannu is located in the northwest province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa that borders Afghanistan, and several armed groups are active there. A group affiliated with the Pakistani Taliban, Jaish Al-Fursan, has claimed responsibility for the attack.

Militants have targeted Bannu several times. Last November, a suicide car bomb killed 12 troops and wounded several others at a security post. And in July, a suicide bomber detonated his explosives-laden vehicle and other militants opened fire near the outer wall of the military facility.

In other developments Wednesday, a bomb struck a shop in Nal — an area of the district of Khuzdar in southwestern Balochistan province — and killed three people and wounded five, according to Deputy Commissioner Iqbal Dashti. People from Sindh and Punjab provinces who have moved to Balochistan often shop at the store.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack but suspicion is likely to fall on Baloch separatists seeking independence from the central government in Islamabad. They have previously targeted people from elsewhere in Pakistan as part of a drive to expel outsiders from the province.

Also Wednesday, a drive-by shooting killed intelligence official Shahid Anwar as he was driving to work in the northwestern city of Peshawar's Uzair Town neighbourhood. The attacker, riding a motorcycle, fled the scene, police officer Adnan Khan said.