ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Monday vowed to eliminate “terrorism” from the country a day after a roadside blast killed seven army soldiers, including a captain, in northwestern Pakistan.
The blast occurred as an improvised explosive device targeted a vehicle carrying the soldiers in Lakki Marwat district of Pakistan’s northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) province on Sunday, according to the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), the army’s media wing.
KP, which borders Afghanistan, has witnessed several attacks on police, security forces and civilians amid a renewed wave of violence in recent months. While no group immediately claimed responsibility for the attack, suspicion is likely to fall on the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), which has claimed dozens of recent attacks.
“Deeply saddened by the martyrdom of Pak Army personnel including a captain in a targeted attack in Lakki Marwat District,” PM Sharif posted on his social media account X. “The sacrifices of our brave soldiers and citizens is a debt on us that we must repay by relentlessly eliminating terrorism from our nation.”
Sharif attended the funeral prayers of Captain Faraz Ilyas, one of the seven army soldiers who died in the attack, in Pakistan’s eastern city of Chunian. The Pakistani prime minister met the late captain’s parents and relatives to offer his condolences.
“We will not let this sacrifice go in vain,” Sharif told the late captain’s father. “May Allah give you patience and keep you under his protection.”
Ilyas was later laid to rest with full military honors as Sharif and the deceased captain’s parents observed the somber ceremony.
In a separate statement on Monday, the ISPR vowed that attacks on its soldiers would not deter its resolve to fight militancy in the country.
“Pakistan’s security forces are committed to eradicating the curse of terrorism and the sacrifices of our brave martyrs reinforce our resolve,” the army’s media wing said.
The Pakistani premier’s statement comes as the South Asian country witnesses a renewed surge in militant violence in its two western provinces, KP and Balochistan, since the TTP called off its fragile truce with the government in November 2022.
Last week, gunmen killed at least four policemen and a prayer leader, while three anti-polio vaccinators and two policemen were injured in separate incidents in KP, officials said.
Pakistan has blamed the surge in violence on militants operating out of neighboring Afghanistan. Kabul denies the allegations and says rising violence in Pakistan is a domestic issue that Islamabad must deal with itself.