Sixteen security personnel were killed in an attack by Islamist militants in northwestern Pakistan early on Saturday, officials said.
The attack on a security forces post took place at 2 a.m. (2100 GMT on Friday) and the attackers had used light and heavy weapons, police deputy superintendent Hidayat Ullah told Reuters. “A search operation is underway in the area,” he added.
The siege began after midnight and lasted about two hours as about 30 militants attacked the mountainous outpost from three sides, a senior intelligence official told AFP on condition of anonymity.
“Sixteen soldiers were martyred and five were critically injured in the assault,” he said. “The militants set fire to the wireless communication equipment, documents and other items present at the checkpoint.”
Pakistani Taliban claim responsibility for attack
Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), also known as the Pakistani Taliban, claimed responsibility for the attack, but gave a higher death toll for security personnel.
“At least 35 security personnel were killed and 15 injured in the attack,” the group said in a broadcast on its WhatsApp channel. It did not say whether any of its fighters were killed.
The TTP said the attack was staged “in retaliation for the martyrdom of our senior commanders”. The group also claimed to have seized a cache of military equipment, including machine guns and a night-vision device.
Islamist insurgency in Pakistan
Pakistan has been struggling with a resurgence of militant violence in its western border regions since the Taliban’s return to power in Afghanistan in 2021.
The TTP is an umbrella group of various Sunni Islamist militant groups that have long fought to overthrow the government and replace it with a strict Islamic system of governance.
It is separate from the Afghan Taliban movement, but shares a common ideology with its Afghan counterparts and pledges loyalty to them.
Islamabad accuses Kabul’s rulers of failing to root out militants who stage attacks on Pakistan from across the border.
dh/kb (AFP, Reuters)
