By Saud Mehsud
DERA ISMAIL KHAN, Pakistan (Reuters) -Thousands of people poured on to the streets of Bannu in northwestern Pakistan for the funerals on Wednesday of 18 people, including six children, killed in a suicide attack on a security installation.
Suicide bombers drove two vehicles packed with explosives into the town’s military base in an attack staged by more than a dozen militants on Tuesday.
The military said in a statement that the multiple suicide blasts caused a partial collapse of the compound’s outer wall, damaging nearby infrastructure. A nearby mosque and residential building were also severely damaged, it added.
At least 13 civilians and five soldiers were killed in the attack, the military said. Muhammad Nauman, a spokesperson for a nearby hospital, said six children were among those killed and 36 others were wounded.
Abdullah Khan, a 46-year-old resident of Banu who runs a livestock business said it was the largest funeral ever seen in the town.
Riaz Wazir, a 46-year-old shopkeeper, who also attended the funeral, said that, in addition to the loss of life, the blasts had caused substantial damage and financial loss.
“Buildings that have fallen are destroyed. Those that have not fallen are dangerous because of explosions, any accident can happen,” he said.
The military said four suicide bombers were among 16 militants also killed in the attack.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility.
Pakistan is battling a surge in attacks by its own chapter of the Islamist Taliban movement, known as Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan, on police and military in areas near the Afghan border.
Video images from the scene showed people sifting through piles of bricks and clearing metal scaffolding.
Nauman, the hospital spokesperson, said a number of the civilan casualties were trapped under collapsed buildings and walls.
Rescue services were searching for more casualties under the debris.
“The evil ambitions of the enemies of Pakistan will never be allowed to succeed,” Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said in a statement condemning the attack.
(Reporting by Saud Mehsud in Dera Ismail Khan and Mushtaq Ali in Peshawar; writing by Charlotte Greenfield and Saad Sayeed; Editing by Sandra Maler, Clarence Fernandez and Kim Coghill)
