Five Rangers personnel were injured when unidentified suspected militants attacked a check post in Diamer-Bhasha Dam area on the border of K-P and G-B during the early morning hours yesterday.
An official of Kohistan police said the paramilitary troopers were present at the Basari check post on Karakoram Highway when over 30 armed militants opened fire using automatic and semi-automatic weapons.
Rangers retaliated with return fire which forced the attackers to flee, he added. Five officials were injured in the assault and shifted to Gilgit Hospital via helicopter. They were later shifted to Combined Military Hospital in Rawalpindi, Punjab, in critical condition.
The injured officials were identified as Hawaldar Liaquat, Lance Naik Abdul Razzaq, Lance Naik Muhammad Aslam, Lance Naik Akhtar Hussain, residents of Punjab, and Sub-Inspector Muhammad Mushtaq.
Following the incident, heavy contingents of Pakistan Army, Rangers, G-B Scouts and police launched a search operation in the area. However, no arrests were reported till filing of this report.
This is the second biggest attack on security officials in the region following the killing of an army colonel, a captain and an SSP in 2013. The officials were investigating the murder of foreign tourists at Nanga Parbat base camp.
The federal government had deployed Rangers in the area in order to put an end to the long-standing armed territorial conflict between tribes of Diamer district of Gilgit and K-P’s Kohistan district last year.
The last skirmish occurred on March 1, 2014, resulting in the deaths of six tribesmen and injuries to over two dozen people on both sides. The fulcrum of the dispute is a 10-kilometre-long strip of land near Basari check post, which separates Kohistan from G-B. This is among the areas demarcated for acquisition for the Diamer-Bhasha Dam project. Both sides lay claim to the financial compensation the government is bound to pay.
