A subedar and a sergeant of the Gilgit-Baltistan Scouts were martyred, while another soldier was injured when terrorists opened fire on their checkpoint along the Karakoram Highway (KKH) in Diamer district on Friday morning, officials said.
The Gilgit-Baltistan Scouts are a federal paramilitary force responsible for internal security in GB and for guarding its borders.
Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Diamer Abdul Hameed told Dawn.com that the terrorists attacked the GB Scouts checkpoint situated at the KKH near Chilas of Diamer district on Friday at 12:15 am.
“Unknown armed men fired at the checkpoint from an elevated hilltop position, injuring three scout personnel, two of whom succumbed to their injuries later,” he said. “A total of nine people were present at the checkpoint when the attack took place.”
The deceased were identified as Naib Subedar Khush Dad and Havaldar Ashraf, while Lance Naik Sajid Ali sustained abdominal injury and is under treatment, he said.
“The police, led by the deputy inspector general and the district police officer, responded immediately and visited the incident site within the next 15-20 minutes, travelling there from Chilas,” he said.
The injured were immediately shifted to the Regional Headquarters (RHQ) Hospital in Chilas, SSP Hameed added.
The police recovered two grenades and 10 spent shells from the site of the firing at the hilltop, while 17 bullet holes were found at the checkpoint. The terrorists managed to flee the area.
Following the incident, Elite Force and additional police were dispatched to the area to strengthen the post and chase the attackers, the SSP said.
“The police have started carrying out raids to arrest the culprits and have raided many areas,” Hameed said, adding that no organisation had so far claimed the responsibility for the attack.
The incident occurred in the same area when ten people lost their lives and 20 passengers received injuries when an Islamabad-bound bus came under fire near Chilas in Diamer in December 2023.
GB’s Interior Minister Shamsul Haq Lone said in a statement that the terrorists targeted the KKH checkpoint in the dark of night.
“Immediately after the attack, a large contingent of security forces reached the spot and sealed the area and expanded the search operation to pursue the terrorists,” he said. “There had been no prior intelligence regarding the attack.”
He said that the soldier injured in the incident has been shifted to the hospital for medical treatment, and his condition is out of danger.
“The GB government would pursue the terrorists and bring them to their ultimate fate,” Lone said, adding that those who attempt to sabotage the peace of this otherwise peaceful region are enemies of the country and the nation.
The minister further said the GB Scouts checkpoint had been set up on December 2, 2023, following a firing incident on a passenger bus in which nine people were killed and 21 were injured.
GB government spokesperson Faizullah Faraq said that Chief Minister Haji Gulbar Khan has taken strict notice of the tragic incident and ordered the pursuit of the perpetrators.
The spokesperson termed the attack an act of extreme cowardice.
On July 21 this year, armed men martyred a Federal Constabulary soldier at a forest checkpoint along the KKH in GB’s Diamer district, according to police.