A deadly ambush by the Pakistani Taliban in northwest Pakistan on Saturday resulted in the deaths of at least 12 soldiers, according to local government and security officials speaking to AFP.
Since the Afghan Taliban’s rise to power in Kabul in 2021, militancy has intensified in the border regions with Afghanistan.
Around 4:00 am, a military convoy traveling through a town in South Waziristan district was attacked by “armed men who opened fire from both sides with heavy weaponry,” killing 12 security personnel and injuring four others, reported a local government official.
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A security officer in the vicinity confirmed the death toll and noted that the attackers had seized weapons from the convoy.
The Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), known for its ties with the Afghan Taliban, claimed responsibility for the assault via a social media post.
This incident marks one of the most lethal attacks in months in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, a region once dominated by the TTP until a military operation in 2014 pushed them back.
Islamabad has accused neighboring Afghanistan of harboring militants who use Afghan territory to stage attacks on Pakistan, a claim Kabul denies.
In recent weeks, residents across Khyber Pakhtunkhwa have reported TTP graffiti appearing on buildings, heightening fears of a resurgence of the group’s control, reminiscent of the US “War on Terror” era spillover from Afghanistan.
A senior local government official told AFP that both TTP fighter numbers and attacks have risen.
Since January 1, nearly 460 people, predominantly security force members, have been killed in attacks by armed groups in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan, as per AFP’s count.
Last year, Pakistan experienced its deadliest year in nearly a decade, with over 1,600 deaths, nearly half of which were soldiers and police officers, according to the Islamabad-based Center for Research and Security Studies.
