Pakistan: at least 16 killed in clashes between security forces and the Taliban

At least 16 people have been killed in the last 24 hours in Pakistan’s undeclared war with Islamist insurgents. An insurgent ambush killed security forces in vehicles, while government troops carried out raids that killed armed individuals believed to be from the Pakistani Taliban, the army and local police said on Friday.

Specifically, a roadside improvised explosive device struck a security forces convoy in northwestern Pakistan, killing six soldiers.

The explosion happened yesterday, on Thursday, in Hangu, a district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, officials said.

Security forces killed 10 militants on Thursday during multiple intelligence-based operations against suspected hideouts in the provinces of North Waziristan and Hangu, the army said in a statement.

Pakistani soldiers have been killed in earlier attacks this year. Three soldiers from the country’s Rangers force were killed and four others wounded during clashes with militants in June.

The army described the dead militants as Khawarij, a term the government uses for members of the Pakistani Taliban, officially known as Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP). The TTP is separate from the Afghan Taliban but allied with the Taliban, who returned to power in 2021.

Pakistan often accuses the neighboring Taliban government of turning a blind eye to cross-border militant attacks and of sheltering the TTP. The government in Kabul, the Afghan capital, has repeatedly denied these accusations.