2014 Bannu bombing

Overview

The 2014 Bannu bombing was an attack attributed to the Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) that targeted an army convoy in the Bannu area of Pakistan, killing twenty-six Pakistani soldiers and injuring thirty-eight other people.

The Attack

According to reporting, a bomb was first placed inside an eighteen-seater van. The bomb struck an army convoy, killing a large number of Pakistani soldiers. The vehicle carrying many of the soldiers was reportedly being rented by the Frontier Corps and was traveling toward Razmak in North Waziristan when the explosion occurred at an army checkpoint. Fifteen of twenty injured security officers were reported to have been taken to Bannu Combined Military Hospital in critical condition.

Claim of Responsibility

TTP spokesman Shahidullah Shahid said the bombing was carried out to avenge the killing of Maulana Waliur Rehman, a commander of TTP South Waziristan, who was killed on May 29, 2013, in a U.S. drone strike in Miranshah.

Government Response

Following the bombing, Prime Minister of Pakistan Nawaz Sharif canceled a planned trip to Davos, Switzerland.

Retaliation

In response to the bombing, helicopters operated by the Pakistan Army fired missiles at a road in the village of Musaki, resulting in the deaths of three militants and two children.

Sourcing Note

This dossier is based primarily on the Wikipedia article for the 2014 Bannu bombing. Two additional contemporaneous news sources referenced by that article — from tribune.com.pk and newsweekpakistan.com — are included in the citations list as corroborating references, but their specific text was not available for direct review, so no additional facts have been drawn from them beyond what is stated in the Wikipedia article.