ISLAMABAD: Two assailants were killed as Pakistani security forces repulsed an attack on Wana Cadet College in the country’s northwest, the Pakistani military said on Monday, adding three other attackers had been “cornered.”
The assailants attempted to breach the security perimeter and rammed an explosive laden vehicle into the main gate of the facility in South Waziristan district that borders Afghanistan, according to the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), the military’s media wing.
Pakistani soldiers engaged the attackers and killed two of them, while three others managed to enter the college premises, who have been “cornered in the college’s administrative block.”
The military said the attackers were members of the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), who it says are sheltered by the Afghan Taliban and backed by India. Kabul and New Delhi deny the allegation.
“Khwarij (TTP militants) hiding inside college premises are in contact with their masters and handlers in Afghanistan and are getting instructions,” the ISPR said in a statement.
“This blatant act of barbarism orchestrated by Khwarij from Afghanistan is in contrast to assertions made by Afghan Taliban Regime claiming non-presence of these terrorist groups on their soil. Pakistan reserves the right to respond against terrorists and their leadership present in Afghanistan.”
The TTP distanced itself from the attack, while there was no immediate response from Kabul or New Delhi to the Pakistani military’s statement.
“Clearance operations are being conducted to eliminate leftover Indian-sponsored kharjis (militants),” the ISPR added.
Tensions between Pakistan and Afghanistan have surged in recent years following an uptick in militant attacks, mainly by the TTP, in Pakistan’s western regions that border Afghanistan. The group is separate from but is viewed by Pakistani officials as an ally of the Afghan Taliban.
Clashes erupted between the neighbors on Oct. 11 after Pakistan conducted airstrikes in Afghanistan against what it said were TTP-linked targets. The sides reached a ceasefire in Doha on Oct. 19.
Two subsequent rounds of talks between the neighbors have failed to yield results, with Pakistan seeking “verifiable” action against militant groups operating on Afghan soil.
Earlier on Monday, the ISPR said Pakistani security forces had killed 20 TTP militants in separate engagements in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) province, where Wana Cadet College is located.
