A series of militant attacks across country Tuesday left at least 27 people dead, including two officials overseeing security for a polio vaccination drive. Armed forces launched a major offensive against militant strongholds in June which stemmed the tide of near-daily attacks the country had endured in recent years, but violence now appears to be on the rise again.
Five separate strikes hit on Tuesday, including two roadside bombs, an attack on a military post and a car bombing targeting a judge. At least five soldiers and 15 militants were killed in a gunfight after insurgents attacked a checkpost of the paramilitary Frontier Corps (FC) in Orakzai, one of seven restive semi-autonomous tribal regions on the Afghan border.
"More than 50 militants attacked the checkpost. Two soldiers embraced shahadat while 15 terrorists were killed in an exchange of fire," a senior security official told AFP. Six soldiers sustained injures in the attack, he said, adding that the militants fled after the FC troops retaliated. Another security official confirmed the incident and casualties.
Polio violence In Bajaur, another tribal area on the Afghan border, a roadside bomb killed two security officials responsible for security arrangements for an ongoing polio vaccination drive, local government official Sohail Khan told AFP. The officials were not guarding polio teams themselves, but were checking arrangements in the area, where Taliban militants are active, he added.
Judge targeted A car bomb targeting a judge of the anti-terrorist court Nazeer Ahmad Lango killed a 10-year old boy and wounded 25 in Quetta, police said. In a drive-by shooting on Tuesday, a provincial government official, four children and a woman were killed while driving through Bolan district, 170 kilometres (105 miles) south-east of Quetta, local administration official Kamran Raeesani told AFP.
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