Six Pakistani Soldiers, Including Captain, Killed in Clash with Militants Near Afghan Border
Six Pakistani soldiers, including an army captain, were killed in a clash with militants in the Kurram district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, near the Afghan border.
According to a statement released on Wednesday by the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), Pakistan’s military media wing, the troops came under attack while conducting an intelligence-based operation on a militant hideout in the Doga area of Kurram.
The ISPR claimed that seven militants were also killed in the exchange of fire, according to news agency Reuters.
The statement said the army launched the operation after receiving reports about the presence of members of a “group of miscreants” in the area.
The newspaper Dawn noted that the Pakistani military commonly uses this term to refer to members of the Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP).
Islamabad has accused the TTP — which it calls an “India-backed militant group” — of launching regular attacks inside Pakistan while operating from sanctuaries in Afghanistan under the protection of the Afghan Taliban.
However, both India and Afghanistan have consistently denied any links with the TTP.
In recent weeks, attacks on Pakistani security forces have intensified in several areas of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa near the Afghan border. Similar insurgent clashes have also destabilized the province of Balochistan.
