7/9/2012 6:57 AM ET
(RTTNews) - At lest seven Pakistani security personnel have been killed and five others injured after suspected Islamist militants attacked an Army campsite in the country's relatively peaceful central region, media reports citing local officials said on Monday.
The incident reportedly occurred near the city of Gujrat in Pakistan's central Punjab province. According to the reports, the pre-dawn attack took place shortly after the targeted security personnel offered their morning prayers.
The assailants are said to have escaped after carrying out the attack. Confirming the incident, the Pak Army said in a brief statement that seven security personnel, including a police official, were killed and five others were injured "due to firing by unknown assailants near Wazirabad," a town located 12 kilometer from Gujrat city.
The attack took place as the security personnel were camping at a site set up on the banks of the Chenab river to search for the body of an Army pilot after his military helicopter crashed on May 23. No group has claimed responsibility for the attack so far. But local authorities blamed the Taliban and allied militant outfits.
Although such attacks on both security and military targets by Islamic militants have become common in Pakistan's volatile north-western tribal region bordering Afghanistan, they have been rare in the country's central regions.
The incident occurred amid widespread protests in Pakistan over the government's recent decision to reopen NATO supply routes it had closed earlier after a NATO air strike killed 24 Pakistani soldiers in November. Islamabad reopened the routes on Thursday after Washington tendered a formal apology over the issue a day earlier.
Islamabad's decision will help the U.S. and the NATO to complete their planned troop withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2014 at a much lower cost. Although Pakistan agreed not to charge additional transit fees, Islamabad has made it clear that no lethal equipment will be allowed to pass through its territory into Afghanistan unless it is meant to equip the Afghan national security force.
Notably, relations between Islamabad and Washington had been strained by the killing of al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden in a raid carried out by U.S. special forces deep inside Pakistan in May 2011. Also, Washington has been frustrated over Pakistan's failure to act against Haqqani Islamist militants who use the country as a base for launching attacks on foreign coalition troops in neighboring Afghanistan.
by RTT Staff Writer
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