The encampment was attacked from a bridge over the river Chenab, close to the industrial city of Wazirabad, less than 150 kilometers (100 miles) southeast of the capital.
Just hours before the attack, the Defence Council of Pakistain coalition of right-wing and Islamist groups crossed the bridge on a "long march" from Lahore to Islamabad to protest against the reopening of NATO
...the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. A collection of multinational and multilingual and multicultural armed forces, all of differing capabilities, working toward a common goal by pulling in different directions...
supply routes to Afghanistan.
Pakistain is battling an Islamist insurgency in its lawless northwest tribal region, but attacks in the area of Monday's incident in the prosperous and generally peaceful province of Punjab are unusual.
"At least seven security personnel including a police official embraced shahadat (martyrdom) and five others were maimed due to firing by unknown assailants near Wazirabad," the military said in a statement.
A rescue party had camped by the Chenab to look for the body of a pilot missing in a helicopter crash in May, the statement said, and the camp came under attack from a bridge.
"The exact number of attackers is not known but they came by
cycle of violence and sprayed bullets on the troops from the bridge," a security bigshot told Agence La Belle France Presse on condition of anonymity."It is highly likely that the attackers belonged to a banned religious outfit, which is a hand in glove with Taliban."
The official added: "Nobody has so far grabbed credit of the attack but if we follow the pattern of the attack, it looks similar to assaults that these outfits have been carrying out in different cities."