The terrorist outfit involved in the Bannu Cantonment attack has been forced to apologise for the death of civilians after severe public outcry.

Terrorists had rammed explosive laden trucks into the cantt’s walls on Tuesday causing severe damage to a mosque as well as a residential building. The attack took place when maghrib prayers were in progress in the mosque, causing several worshippers to be crushed by the rubble.

A total of 13 civilians were killed and 32 injured in the attack. All 16 terrorists were neutralised while five soldiers were martyred. A massive funeral for the victims was held in Bannu Sports Complex the day after the attack.

Videos of the aftermath had gone viral after the attack with members of the public trying to rescue worshippers from under the rubble. Several citizens in the videos had been recorded questioning why a mosque full of worshippers would be targeted.

The Hafiz Gul Bahadar affiliated Jaish Al Fursan had claimed responsibility for the attack immediately afterwards.

Later another set of videos emerged on social media, showing the bodies of the terrorists loaded on to the truck. Angry citizens surrounded the truck asking where the bodies were being taken. Some voices in the video called for the bodies to be burned.

Counter-Terrorism Department officials in Bannu told Khabar Kada on the condition of anonymity that the bodies of the slain terrorists were buried by the local community without any funeral service.

As public outcry from the attack intensified, another statement from the group emerged saying that civilians had been ‘inadvertently’ killed in the attack due to the intensity of the explosion. The statement expressed regret over the death of civilians and referred to them as ‘martyrs’, offering prayers for them.

The Hafiz Gul Bahadur group has recently claimed that it has restructured both its organizational design as well as its approach towards its operations. Along with the TTP, this group has professed that it aims to target law enforcement and security forces officials instead of civilians.

However, Tuesday’s attacks which resulted in a massive civilian death toll belie these claims. As the group continues to step up attacks, including the use of suicide bombers, it is clear that the operations are designed to inflict indiscriminate violence that hurts common citizens even when the group seemingly focuses on military targets.

According to an article in The Khorasan Diary, an Islamabad-based think tank and digital media outlet covering security and conflict, the group’s sub-factions operate as fighting units and do not actually embody the elaborate structure that the group claims to have created.

Additionally, the group’s links with Afghanistan are well known, with the leader itself residing in the country’s south. It is also well established that the Hafiz Gul Bahadur group is linked to international terrorist organisations.