New Delhi: India on Sunday dismissed the Pakistan Army’s allegation that a suicide bombing in Waziristan was carried out by a terror group with Indian support, and said the statement was rejected “with the contempt it deserves.”
The suicide bombing at Mir Ali in North Waziristan, part of Pakistan’s Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province, killed 13 soldiers and injured 24 people on Saturday. The attack was claimed by the Hafiz Gul Bahadur group, a faction of the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP).
“We have seen an official statement by the Pakistan Army seeking to blame India for the attack in Waziristan on 28 June,” the external affairs ministry said, adding, “We reject this statement with the contempt it deserves.”
A statement issued by Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), the Pakistani military’s media arm, said that “an explosive-laden vehicle was rammed by the Indian sponsored kharijis into one of the vehicles” of an army convoy.
Last year, the Pakistan government designated the TTP as “Fitna-al-Khawarij” and directed all institutions to use the term “khariji” to refer to perpetrators of terror attacks.
Northwest Pakistan has seen a sharp rise in violence, especially in areas bordering Afghanistan, since the Taliban returned to power in Kabul in 2021. Pakistan has accused Afghanistan of allowing its soil to be used for attacks against the country, a charge denied by the Taliban.
{{/usCountry}}Northwest Pakistan has seen a sharp rise in violence, especially in areas bordering Afghanistan, since the Taliban returned to power in Kabul in 2021. Pakistan has accused Afghanistan of allowing its soil to be used for attacks against the country, a charge denied by the Taliban.
{{/usCountry}}About 290 people, mostly security officials, have died in attacks by terror groups in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan provinces since the start of the year.