Clashes kill three soldiers, eight militants in northwest Pakistan

At least three members of the Pakistani army and eight suspected militants were killed in a shootout in the northwest of the country, during an operation by security forces against insurgent groups operating in the region.

The operation took place in the Bannu district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province and ended with the death of eight members of Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), one of the main guerrilla organizations allied to the Taliban, the Office stated. of Social Communication of the Army.

“During the operation, our own troops effectively attacked the Khwarij position. [expressão usada pelo exército do Paquistão para se referir ao TTP]. As a result, eight Khwarij were killed and seven injured,” the office said.

The statement released Wednesday night adds that Three Pakistani soldiers were killed in the shootout.

On Saturday, an attack by a suicide bomber near a Pakistani police and army checkpoint killed eight people, including six members of the security forces, also in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

The attacker was driving a small vehicle when he approached the checkpoint near the town of Mir Ali in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa region, a local authority source said.

An unknown group claimed responsibility for the attack in the mountainous region bordering Afghanistan, in a statement sent to the France-Presse news agency.

Pakistan has seen an increase in attacks by the Pakistani Taliban, trained to fight in Afghanistan and who claim to share the same ideology as the Taliban, who returned to power in Kabul in 2021, following the withdrawal of NATO troops.

Last Thursday, ten Pakistani police officers were killed at a roadblock, in an attack claimed by the Pakistani Taliban.

In late September, a convoy of cars carrying diplomats, including the Portuguese ambassador to Pakistan and Afghanistan, Frederico Silva, was hit by an explosion in the Swat Valley in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

At the time, the TTP claimed it had no connection to the attack.