Pakistan military says 28 dead in 2 militant attacks

PESHAWAR, Pakistan — Two separate attacks by militants on an army base and a health centre in northwest Pakistan killed 28 people, including 10 soldiers as well as female health workers and children, the military said on Tuesday (July 16).

The attacks, both of which occurred on Monday, coincide with a resurgence of Islamist militancy in the northwest border region with Afghanistan, which last month prompted the government to start a counter-insurgency operation in the area.

In the first incident, Islamist militants attacked a military base in northwestern Pakistan, killing eight security personnel, the military said on Tuesday, after a suicide bomber rammed a vehicle loaded with explosives into a perimeter wall.

Militants targeted the base in Bannu, on the border with the tribal area of North Waziristan, which is known as a hotbed of Islamist militancy, and is close to the Afghanistan border. Security forces killed all 10 assailants involved, the military said in a statement.

"This timely and effective response... prevented major catastrophe, saving precious innocent lives," the statement added.

Among the dead in Monday's attack were seven army soldiers and one paramilitary soldier.

The British colonial-era military base has historically been used as a launch pad for anti-militant operations, and is surrounded by civilian dwellings, which were shaken by the loud explosion from Monday's blast, two local officials told Reuters.

They said the initial blast was used to take down the perimeter wall to allow the other militants to enter the base.

The attack was claimed by the Hafiz Gul Bahadur Group, which the military said operates out of neighbouring Afghanistan "to orchestrate acts of terrorism inside Pakistan".

A spokesman