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At least 18 people were killed in a violent clash between security forces and suspected militants in northwest Pakistan on Tuesday, Anadolu Agency reported yesterday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The incident involved a suicide bombing and an armed assault on a military cantonment area in Bannu district.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Military officials reported that a group of militants attacked the cantonment early Monday morning. Security forces repelled the initial assault, forcing the attackers to detonate a suicide vest at the perimeter wall. The blast caused significant damage and resulted in the deaths of eight soldiers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Following the explosion, a fierce gun battle ensued. Troops successfully eliminated all ten suspected militants.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Pakistani military blames the attack on the Hafiz Gul Bahadur group, a faction of the outlawed Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP). They allege the group uses Afghanistan as a safe haven to launch attacks inside Pakistan. The statement further highlights Pakistan’s ongoing concerns raised with the Afghan government regarding the use of their territory by militant groups.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
These accusations are contested by Kabul, which denies providing any support to militants carrying out attacks in Pakistan.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
At least 18 people were killed in a violent clash between security forces and suspected militants in northwest Pakistan on Tuesday, Anadolu Agency reported yesterday. The incident involved a suicide bombing and an armed assault on a military cantonment area in Bannu district. Military officials reported that a group of militants attacked the cantonment early …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":33,"featured_media":107946,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rop_custom_images_group":[],"rop_custom_messages_group":[],"rop_publish_now":"yes","rop_publish_now_accounts":{"facebook_108372464460192_245495985553329":""},"rop_publish_now_history":[],"rop_publish_now_status":"pending","footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[9017,6260],"class_list":["post-107945","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-pakistan","tag-bannu-district","tag-militant-attack"],"yoast_head":"\n