RAWALPINDI: Seven security personnel, including a police official, were killed while five others were injured when unknown assailants opened fire on a riverside encampment near Gujrat on Monday, outlawed Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan claimed responsibility, Dispatch News Desk (DND) reported on 9 July, 2012.
According to a spokesman of ISPR, a small rescue party had reportedly camped on the bank of the river Chenab to search for the body of a drowned/missing pilot of the May 23 helicopter crash.
Early Monday morning, a few unknown assailants opened fire on the rescue party, which resulted in the death of six personnel of the security forces.
The encampment was attacked from a bridge over the River Chenab. “The exact number of attackers is not known but they came on motorbikes and sprayed bullets on the troops from the bridge,” a senior security official told Dispatch News Desk (DND).
“It is highly likely that the attackers belonged to a banned religious outfit, which is hand in glove with the Taliban. Nobody has so far claimed responsibility of the attack but if we follow the pattern of the attack, it looks similar to assaults that these outfits have been carrying out in different cities,” he added.
DND