Pakistani security forces today foiled a terrorist assault on an army training centre in the northwestern Khyber—Pakhtunkhwa province, gunning down five attackers, including three suicide bombers.
Guards at the Punjab Regimental Centre in Mardan, located 60—km northeast of provincial capital Peshawar, took prompt action when they spotted seven militants trying to storm the training facility at 5 a.m.
Three suicide bombers detonated their explosives when the guards fired at the attackers, the military said in a statement.
The four other attackers provided covering fire to the suicide bombers from nearby buildings.
Two of them were killed in an exchange of fire that continued for some time.
Security forces later launched a cordon and search operation to apprehend the two remaining attackers.
Four soldiers sustained minor injuries in the gun battle, the statement said. The injured soldiers were taken to a military hospital in Mardan.
Earlier reports said only three suicide bombers were involved in the attack.
No group claimed responsibility for the attack. The government blames the Taliban for such attacks.
The body parts of the attackers were collected and sent for DNA tests to establish their identity, said Deputy Inspector General of Police Akhtar Ali Shah.
The attackers clambered over the wall around the army base and were then spotted by guards, he said.
The attackers had about 24 kg of explosives in their suicide jackets. Police had found an identity card which could help identify the men, Mr. Shah said.
Taliban militants had been active in Mardan, the second largest city in Khyber—Pakhtunkhwa, since last year but they were weakened as a result of the army operation in the nearby Swat valley.
In May last year, a suicide bomber targeted the Mardan army base’s market and killed at least 13 people, including four soldiers.
This was the second terrorist attack in Mardan as three persons were killed in a car bombing in April last year.
The army has declared victory in the offensive against militants in the northwest but today’s attack showed that their network in the region is still intact.
