Militants from the Pakistani Taliban attacked a security checkpoint in the northwestern border area with Afghanistan, resulting in the deaths of six soldiers and injuries to four others, a government official reported on Tuesday.
Since the Taliban regained control of Kabul in 2021, Pakistan has experienced an increase in militant attacks along its border areas.
Pakistan blames Afghanistan for harboring these insurgents, a claim the Taliban government denies.
On Monday night, over a dozen armed militants assaulted the checkpoint, igniting a fierce gunfight in Kurram, a tribal district in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province.
“Six security personnel were martyred and four were wounded, with two militants also killed in the clash,” shared a government official from Kurram, who wished to remain anonymous as they were not authorized to speak to the media, told AFP.
The Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) has been active in the region for a long time and claimed responsibility for the attack.
Pakistan accuses Afghanistan’s Taliban government of providing shelter to TTP militants and allowing them to conduct cross-border attacks, a charge Kabul rejects.
The border between the two nations has been shut since the October clashes, although Pakistan announced last week it would soon allow UN aid to transit to Afghanistan.
The assault follows days after gunfire and shelling between Afghan and Pakistani forces at a significant border crossing, resulting in the deaths of four civilians and a soldier, according to Afghanistan.
Both sides blamed each other for initiating the conflict.
