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01-07-2025
Bureau Report + Agencies
NEW DELHI/ ISLAMABAD: India has rejected claims by Pakistan that it attempted to blame it for an attack in the Waziristan area of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province.
“We have seen an official statement by the Pakistan Army seeking to blame India for the attack in Waziristan on June 28,” the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said in a statement.
“We reject this statement with the contempt it deserves,” it added.
On Saturday, 13 security personnel were killed in a suicide bombing in North Waziristan, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, reportedly carried out by Fitna-al-Khawarij, according to a report by ANI, citing The Dawn.
“In a cowardly attack, planned and orchestrated by terrorists, a security forces convoy was targeted today in the general area of Mir Ali, North Waziristan district,” PTI quoted the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR).
The report, citing people aware of the development, said a curfew was in effect in the area during the incident because of ongoing military activities. Security agencies initiated a rescue operation after the explosion, it added.
Previously, a statement from the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister’s Office informed that eight security personnel were killed in the blast. The attack was condemned by KP Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur, who expressed his condolences and prayers for the personnel, the report said.
District Police Officer Waqar Ahmed told The Dawn that four civilians were injured in a suicide attack involving a vehicle-borne explosive device. The report stated that the attack occurred days after two soldiers were killed and 11 terrorists were neutralized during an intelligence-led operation in South Waziristan. So far, no group has taken responsibility for the recent bombing, the report added.
The report further mentioned that the attack occurred just days after an intelligence-based operation (IBO) in South Waziristan led to the death of two soldiers and the elimination of 11 terrorists.
Yesterday, a car bomb attack in Pakistan has killed at least 13 soldiers and injured civilians.
Pakistani officials said a suicide bomber drove a vehicle packed with explosives into a military convoy in the north-western tribal region of North Waziristan, near the border with Afghanistan, on Saturday.
Pakistan alleged that the militants behind the attack were backed by India but Delhi quickly denied this. Dismissing Pakistan’s accusation, Randhir Jaiswal, spokesman for India’s ministry of external affairs, posted on social media; “we reject this statement with the contempt it deserves.”
The attack has been claimed by a suicide bomber wing of the Hafiz Gul Bahadur armed group, a faction of the Pakistan Taliban.
Pakistan’s army, however, said the attack was carried out by militants backed by India, without providing evidence.
“In this tragic and barbaric incident, three innocent civilians including two children and a woman also got severely injured,” the Pakistani army said in a statement.
Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif condemned the “cowardly act”.
Relations between the two nations have long been strained but tensions deepened in April after a deadly attack on tourists in Indian-administered Kashmir left 26 people dead.
India blamed Pakistan for sheltering members of a militant group it said were behind the attack, and the incident brought the two nuclear-armed countries to the brink of another war.
