Eyewitnesses reported plumes of gray smoke rising into the sky, followed by bursts of gunfire. “After a breach in the wall, five to six more attackers attempted to enter the cantonment but were eliminated. Operations in the area are still ongoing,” the army said in a statement.
The attack targeted a sprawling military compound that houses offices and residences of security personnel in Bannu, a city in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province where militant groups, including the Pakistani Taliban, have been active.
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The blasts occurred after sunset, coinciding with the time when people were breaking their fast during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack, which marks the third such incident in Pakistan since Ramadan began on Sunday.
Bannu has witnessed multiple militant attacks in recent months. In November, a suicide car bombing at a security post killed 12 soldiers and wounded several others. A similar attack in July saw a suicide bomber detonate an explosives-laden vehicle while other militants opened fire near the facility’s outer wall.
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