Taliban aims attack at breakaway ‘militant chief’ Nabi HanafiA suicide bomb attack on has killed at least 15 people in Pakistan and injured several others, including civilians.
The attacker drove a car laden with explosives into Mullah Nabi Hanafi’s compound in the Spin Thal area of North Waziristan, a north-west tribal region of the country, on Thursday morning, 3 October.
Nabi Hanfi, from the Orakzai tribal area, was a member of the Taliban until he broke away in 2009 and formed an anti-Taliban militia. He is believed to have been fighting a branch of Pakistan’s Taliban.
It has not yet been confirmed who exactly was among the dead, but there are reports that the militant commander Nabi Hanfi is among the wounded who have been taken to a hospital in the district.
However Wajid Khan, Local government administrator, told the Associated Press that Nabi Hanafi was not on base at the time of the bombings.
Apparently there was a second wave of attack launched by a further two suicide bombers. However security forces said they were both taken out before they could strike, in a shootout by Nabi Hanfi’s men.
The Taliban have taken responsibility for the attack against the breakaway commander.
Hanfi actually survived an attack like this last year on his compound that claimed the lives of 10.
The rogue tribal areas of Northern Pakistan, bordering Afghanistan, are greatly occupied by Taliban and al-Qaeda militant groups.
The recent surge in violent attacks in the country has followed divisions within Pakistan’s Taliban, over the group’s agreement to enter into talks with new Pakistani prime minister Nawaz Sharif.
There are many militant groups flying under the Pakistani Taliban banner; some are in favor of talks, others not.
There are reports of support having been given to Nabi Hanafi and his militia by the government, in a move to counter the Pakistani Taliban threat.
