At least 10 Pakistani frontier police were killed in a militant attack on an outpost near the northwestern city of Dera Ismail Khan, the interior ministry said in a statement.
The attack took place overnight on Thursday. It was claimed by Islamist militant group Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan. It comes as Pakistan battles a resurgence of militant attacks in its rugged northwest, as well as a growing ethnic separatist insurgency in the south.
Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi strongly condemned the attack in Dera Ismail Khan, the ministry’s statement said. Dera Ismail Khan is a city in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province.
Three senior police sources said a large group of militants stormed the outpost, killing personnel of the frontier constabulary security force.
Retaliatory Attack?
In a statement, the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) group claimed responsibility for the attack, calling it retaliation for the killing of a senior leader, Ustad Qureshi.
He was one of nine people, including two suicide bombers, killed in an intelligence-based operation in Bajaur, Pakistan’s military said in a statement on Thursday. Bajour is a district bordering Afghanistan.
The TTP is separate from the Afghan Taliban movement. However, it but pledges loyalty to the Islamist group that now rules Afghanistan after the U.S.-led international forces withdrew in 2021.
Islamabad says TTP uses Afghanistan as a base and says the ruling Taliban administration has provided safe havens to the group close to the border. The Taliban deny this.
Repeated Attacks
The Pakistan military’s security forces have shot and killed a total of 19 insurgents within 24 hours. Two separate operations took place within Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Bajaur and Mianwali city in eastern Punjab.
The security forces in Pakistan are said to be doing intelligence based operations on the TTP. The TTP is also referred to as the Pakistani Taliban.
It is said to use Afghanistan as its base while conducting militant operations in Pakistan, however, the Taliban has often denied these claims.
(with inputs from Reuters)
