Six Pakistani soldiers killed in attack near Afghan border – Firstpost

Six Pakistani soldiers have been killed in an attack in the country’s northwestern region along the border with Afghanistan, sources told Reuters on Tuesday.

The soldiers were killed in an attack on a security checkpoint along the border in Kurram district in the restive Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province. The attack took place between Monday night and Tuesday morning.

No group has so far taken responsibility for the attack.

Pakistan’s border regions have seen increased cross-border attacks in recent months as the relationship between Pakistan and Afghanistan’s Taliban regime has collapsed. In October, the two sides had worst clashes since the Islamist takeover of Afghanistan in 2021 in which dozens were killed and hundreds injured.

Turkey and Qatar have mediated talks between Pakistan and Taliban but these talks have not gone anywhere. Pakistan has essentially declared these talks a failure.

For continuing attacks in the country, Pakistan has accused the Taliban of enabling such attacks by not taking action against groups based in Afghanistan.

In recent months, as the relationship between Pakistan and Afghan Taliban has broken down, the Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) has ramped up attacks on Pakistani security forces and state institutions. Pakistan has blamed the Afghan Taliban for harbouring the TTP and enabling attacks inside Pakistan.

While the TTP is aligned ideologically with the Afghan Taliban, it is a distinct group that is opposed to the Pakistani state. It has committed itself to overthrowing the Pakistani state and establishing in its place a true Sharia-run Islamic state.

As for December 9, the year has been the deadliest for Pakistan in nearly a decade in terms of terrorism-related deaths. The last year with more deaths than the ongoing year was 2014 when 5,510 deaths were reported, according to the South Asia Terrorism Portal (SATP).