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ConflictsPakistan

Pakistan: 7 soldiers killed in attack on military post

March 16, 2024

The Jaish-e-Fursan-e Muhammad militant organization said it was behind the deadly ambush. Pakistani leaders deplored the attack and paid tribute to the soldiers who died.

A soldier on patrol near the Ghulam Khan Border Gate located at the Pakistan-Afghanistan border in North Waziristan, Pakistan on March 04, 2022
The northwestern region of North Waziristan, which shares a border with Afghanistan, has seen a steady rise in violenceImage: Muhammed Semih Ugurlu/Anadolu/picture alliance

At least seven soldiers have been killed in Pakistan after militants attacked a military post in North Waziristan, a district in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province that borders Afghanistan.

"The terrorists rammed an explosive-laden vehicle into the post, followed by multiple suicide bombing attacks, which led to [the] collapse of [a] portion of a building," Pakistan's military said.

Five soldiers were killed in the initial blast and another two in the ensuing gun battle.

The military said six attackers, some wearing bomb vests, were also killed in the firefight.

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A newly formed militant group, Jaish-e-Fursan-e Muhammad, claimed responsibility for the attack.

Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif condemned the attack and paid tribute to the troops who were "martyred."

Attacks by militant groups in Pakistan's border regions with Afghanistan have been on the rise, ever since the Islamist militant group Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) withdrew from a cease-fire in 2022.

The Pakistani government has said that many of the attacks were launched from Afghanistan. The Taliban in Afghanistan have repeatedly denied this.

lo/sms (AFP, AP, dpa, Reuters)

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