A Pakistani cameraman takes images of a damaged mosque after an attack by militants from the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan near militant commander Maulvi Nabi Hanafi’s house in the Spin Tal village in the Orakzai tribal district yesterday.
PESHAWAR: At least 15 militants died in northwest Pakistan yesterday when the Taliban launched a gun and suicide attack against a rival group, officials said. A senior government official said that clashes erupted when fighters from Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) attacked militant commander Maulvi Nabi Hanafi’s house in Pakistan’s Orakzai tribal district.
“At least 10 militants from the Hanafi group, two attackers and a suicide bomber were among the dead. About 20 others along with two women have been injured,” the official in Orakzai said on condition of anonymity.
The attack began with a suicide bomber detonating a car bomb outside the compound, followed by militants launching an assault with guns.
Hanafi, who leads an anti-Taliban militia, was wounded in the attack but survived, the official said.
A senior security official in Peshawar confirmed the clashes and death toll and said that militants had surrounded the area and would not allow anyone to entre.
TTP spokesman Shahidullah Shahid claimed the attack.
“Hanafi was fighting against the TTP and anyone who will fight with us will face the same fate,” Shahid said from an undisclosed location.
Orakzai is one of Pakistan’s seven lawless semi-autonomous tribal regions along the Afghan border and is the hometown of Pakistani Taliban chief Hakimullah Mehsud.
AFP
