- The attack comes a day after an ambush on a military convoy killed 14 soldiers in southwest Baluchistan province.
ISLAMABAD (Agencies): A group of fighters has targeted an air force training base in central Pakistan’s Mianwali area but troops foiled the attack, killing nine of the attackers, according to Pakistan’s military.
“Due to the swift and effective response by the troops, (the attack) has been foiled and thwarted, ensuring the safety and security of personnel and assets,” the military said in a statement, adding that three grounded aircraft and a fuel tanker have been damaged in the attack.
Newly founded group called Tehreek-e-Jihad Pakistan (TJP), which has carried out a string of attacks in the country this year, claimed responsibility for Saturday morning’s attack in a statement sent to journalists by its spokesperson.
The attack comes a day after an ambush on a military convoy killed 14 soldiers in southwest Baluchistan province. Also on Friday, a bomb and gun attack on a vehicle carrying police killed three people and wounded more than 20.
Violence has risen in Pakistan this year, and it is primarily linked to the increased activity of armed groups like the TJP and Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), a banned group ideologically aligned with the Afghan Taliban.