Pakistan News: At least six soldiers and as many terrorists were killed in a shootout in Pakistan’s restive Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, the military said Saturday. Among the soldiers who lost their lives was an officer.
The army’s media arm, Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), said in a statement that the exchange of fire took place on the night of October 4-5 in the Spinwam area of the border North Waziristan district. with Afghanistan, during which six soldiers, including a lieutenant colonel, and “six Khwarij”, died.
The statement further claimed that during the “intense exchange of fire”, Lieutenant Colonel Muhammad Ali Shoukat, 43, who was leading the operation against the terrorists, was killed along with five other soldiers.
Meanwhile, responsibility for the attack was claimed by the banned Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP). The TTP was created in 2007 as an umbrella group for several militant groups.
Pakistan has officially declared the TTP as ‘Fitna al-Khawarij’ and the Home Ministry notification emphasizes the use of the term ‘khariji’ (banned) along with the names of such terrorists. The Pakistani government has repeatedly accused the TTP of operating from sanctuaries in Afghanistan, a claim denied by the Afghan Taliban.
Incidents of terrorism in Pakistan have been on the rise since the Taliban took over government in Kabul in 2021, dashing hopes in Islamabad that a friendly government in Afghanistan would provide help to combat militancy. Of late the two countries have witnessed strained relations largely due to the TTP but also frequent border skirmishes.
(With PTI inputs)
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