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06-07-2025
ISLAMABAD/ QUETTA: Pakistan’s army has said it has killed 30 fighters who tried to cross the border from Afghanistan, just days after a suicide attack in the same region killed 16 Pakistani soldiers.
The fighters, who all died in the last three days, belonged to the Pakistan Taliban or its affiliates, according to the Pakistani military, which praised its troops for preventing “a potential catastrophe” on Friday.
One faction of the Pakistan Taliban, which is a separate group from the Afghan Taliban, claimed responsibility for a suicide blast last week in the border district of North Waziristan in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province.
The Pakistani army’s killing of the fighters took place in the same district.
Although a statement from the country’s military did not give details about its operation against the fighters, it confirmed that it had seized a “large quantity of weapons, ammunition and explosives”.
Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif praised his country’s security forces on Friday for “thwarting an infiltration attempt”.
“We are determined to completely eliminate all forms of terrorism from the country,” his office said.
Both the prime minister and the army’s statements blamed India for backing the fighters.
Although New Delhi is yet to comment on the latest accusation, it has repeatedly denied claims from Islamabad that it is fomenting violence in Pakistan.
Such accusations have increased in recent months as tensions between the nuclear-armed neighbors have soared.
During a four-day conflict between them in May, 70 people on both sides were killed, and the regional foes were on the cusp of their fifth all-out war since independence.
The fighting broke out after India accused Pakistan of supporting gunmen who killed 26 people in the disputed Kashmir region on April 22. Islamabad denied any involvement.
Violence in Pakistan’s border areas has spiked since the Taliban seized power again in Afghanistan, in 2021, with last year the deadliest in a decade.
Pakistan’s government increased defence spending by 20% in June, with 14% of the country’s overall budget assigned to the army.
Last week, more than a dozen soldiers were killed and dozens of people wounded in a suicide attack in northwestern Pakistan’s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, officials said.
Saturday’s attack was carried out in Khadi Market, Mir Ali, North Waziristan, according to a local media outlet, Khyber Chronicles, which quoted security sources.
Security officials said the attacker detonated explosives near a bomb disposal unit vehicle, killing 13 people.
At least 24 personnel, including 14 civilians, were also injured in the attack, the report said.
“A suicide bomber rammed an explosive-laden vehicle into a military convoy,” a local government official in North Waziristan district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province told media.
“The explosion also caused the roofs of two houses to collapse, injuring six children,” a police officer posted in the district told media.
It was one of the deadliest single-day attacks on security forces in recent months in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. (Agencies)
