PESHAWAR: Two United Nations officials remained unhurt after unidentified gunmen targeted their vehicle in northwestern Pakistan on Tuesday, a police official confirmed, as Islamabad grapples with a surge in militant attacks in the country’s restive Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) province bordering Afghanistan.

A police spokesperson from Pakistan’s northwestern Tank district confirmed that unidentified gunmen opened indiscriminate fire on a UN vehicle near Hathala town in Dera Ismail Khan district. He said the two UN officials in the car remained unhurt. 

“The UN vehicle was coming to Tank from D. I. Khan when it came under attack,” police spokesperson Muhammad Ibrahim told Arab News. “However, the two staffers are safe and have arrived in the district administration’s compound.”

Pakistan’s security forces have suffered a surge in attacks from the Pakistani Taliban or the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) group in the country’s western provinces bordering Afghanistan since an uneasy truce between the state and the banned outfit fell apart in November 2022.

The TTP, which seeks to impose its strict version of Islam in the South Asian country, has carried out some of the deadliest attacks against Pakistani civilians and security forces since 2007 before the army conducted multiple operations to drive them out of the tribal areas.

However, the banned outfit distanced itself from the attack in a statement, blaming the Pakistan Army instead for carrying out such attacks. 

“Military operations against such institutions are carried out by Pakistan’s security institutions to restore their reputation and secure dollars from world powers,” TTP spokesperson Muhammad Khorasani said in a statement. 

“The TTP’s objectives are clear and we will continue our war for our objectives, meaning against the security forces,” he added. 

Repeated attacks from the TTP against Pakistan’s security forces have soured relations between Islamabad and Kabul. Pakistan has accused the Taliban of providing shelter to TTP militants to attack Pakistan. Kabul has denied the allegations and insisted it does not allow any group to launch attacks on other countries from its soil.

Ties further strained between the two countries after Pakistan launched a deportation drive last year targeting what it said were “illegal” immigrants in the country after a spike in suicide bombings. Islamabad, without providing evidence, blamed the surge in attacks on Afghan nationals. Pakistan has also said Afghan nationals are involved in smuggling, militant violence and other crimes in the country. 
 

ISLAMABAD: Thirteen people, including 11 members of a family, were killed in rain-related incidents over the past 24 hours across northwestern Pakistan, the provincial disaster management authority said on Tuesday as heavy monsoon rains lashed the province. 

Pakistan’s National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) warned on Monday that strong monsoon currents from the Bay of Bengal can trigger heavy rains and flash floods in Punjab, Azad Kashmir, Sindh and the northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) province. 

“As a result of accidents due to recent rains, 13 people died and six people were injured during the last 24 hours,” a PDMA KP spokesperson said in the authority’s daily situation report on Tuesday, adding that of these, “eleven members of the same family died due to heavy rain in Kohat district.”

According to rescue services, the family members drowned when flood water inundated the basement of their house. 

The report said two men, four women and seven children were among the total 13 casualties while the six injured include a man, two women and three children. The disaster management authority said 16 houses in total were damaged due to wind and heavy rains during the last 24 hours, of which 15 were partially damaged whereas one was completely destroyed.

The report highlighted that Kohat, Bajaur, Lower and Upper Chitral, Upper Dir, Swat and Swabi districts suffered financial losses due to the torrential rains. It said roads in these areas were also closed to traffic.

“PDMA, district administrations and relief teams are engaged in relief activities in the affected areas,” the spokesperson said. 

PDMA also directed district administration officials to provide immediate financial support to all the victims, adding that authorities and district administration officials were in close contact with them. 

Flash floods also washed away the main Mahandri bridge in Kaghan, leading to disruption in traffic to Gilgit-Baltistan via Babusar Pass. Roads and infrastructure throughout Kaghan and surrounding areas were also damaged and a main fiber optic cable was cut off, causing an over four hour disruption in Internet and other telecommunications services in Gilgit-Baltistan.

On Monday, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif directed the NDMA to implement urgent measures to ensure public safety amid torrential monsoon rains in many parts of Pakistan.