PESHAWR: Four soldiers of the paramilitary Levies force were killed after they were targeted by firing and an improvised explosive device (IED) blast in northwestern Pakistan’s Dera Ismail Khan district, a police officer said on Sunday.

According to D.I. Khan police officer Amer Khan, the four Levies personnel were in the district from southwestern Pakistan’s Khanozai area to retrieve a stolen truck. 

Noor Ahmad Naib, ⁠Rasheed Zaman, ⁠Dawood Khan and Bilal Ahmad left for DI Khan on Feb. 1, the police officer said, adding that their vehicle was attacked in the district’s Daraban area. 

“Upon initial reports, all embraced martyrdom due to firing followed by an IED blast,” Khan told Arab News. 

So far no group has claimed responsibility for the attack but suspicion is likely to fall on the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) or the Pakistani Taliban, who have launched attacks on Pakistan’s security forces and law enforcement personnel for over a decade-and-a-half. 

Pakistan has witnessed a surge in militancy in the northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, which borders Afghanistan, since a fragile truce between the TTP and the state broke down in November 2022.

The TTP and other militant groups have stepped up their attacks against security forces, besides targeted killings and kidnappings of law enforcers and government officials, in recent months. 

Islamabad has frequently accused neighboring Afghanistan of sheltering anti-Pakistan groups that launch cross-border attacks. Afghan officials deny allowing the use of their soil against any country.

The latest casualties in the province come a day after the military said 18 Pakistani soldiers were killed in a militant attack in southwestern Balochistan province. The military said it had killed at least 23 militants in subsequent clearance operations.

ISLAMABAD: The Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) this week announced it had arrested a human smuggler who was the main facilitator of the Morocco boat tragedy in which several Pakistanis were killed this month. 

Pakistan’s foreign office confirmed earlier this month that a migrant boat with several Pakistanis had capsized near the coast of Morocco en route to Spain. According to Moroccan authorities, 36 people were rescued from the vessel, which had departed Mauritania on Jan. 2. The boat had 86 migrants on board, including 66 Pakistanis, minority rights group Walking Borders said. 

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif had instructed the government to take stern action against human smugglers involved in sending desperate Pakistani citizens on dangerous journeys to Europe via sea. 

“The main facilitator of the Morocco boat accident, Abdul Ghaffar, was arrested at Islamabad Airport yesterday,” a statement from the FIA said on Saturday, adding that it has traced the gang of human smugglers involved in the incident. 

The investigation agency said Ghaffar had been living in Mauritania since 2023 and had facilitated sending several Pakistanis to Europe. It said the accused’s father, Muhammad Sarfraz and close relative Munir Ahmed are also involved in human trafficking in Mauritania since 2018. 

FIA said it had nabbed Ghaffar when he arrived in Islamabad on Friday with seven passengers. After being identified by the passengers, he was taken into custody and shifted to Faisalabad. 

“Important evidence was recovered from Adul Ghaffar, the agent involved in human trafficking,” the FIA said. 

The agency said it has evidence Ghaffar was in contact with an African human smuggler named Abu Bakar. It said upon initial investigation the FIA found out that Ghaffar and his accomplices were actively involved in human smuggling in the African countries of Mauritania and Burkina Faso.

“The suspects helped Pakistanis onto boats by luring them with promises of sending them to Europe, which resulted in the deaths of several Pakistanis,” the agency said. 

The FIA said a case has been registered against Ghaffar and further investigations are underway. The agency said it expected more arrests after extracting information from the suspect. 

“Strict legal action will be taken against smugglers who play with innocent lives,” the FIA vowed. 

The Morocco boat tragedy highlighted the perilous journeys many migrants, particularly Pakistanis, undertake due to conflict and economic instability in their home country.

In 2023, hundreds of migrants, including 262 Pakistanis, drowned when an overcrowded vessel sank in international waters off the southwestern Greek town of Pylos.

It was among the deadliest boat disasters ever recorded in the Mediterranean Sea.