Militants kill 8 Pakistani soldiers, abduct 7 police officers

Islamabad — 

Authorities successful northwestern Pakistan reported Monday that militants ambushed a subject convoy adjacent the borderline with Afghanistan and killed astatine slightest 8 soldiers.

The onslaught occurred successful Khyber, a volatile borderline territory successful the state of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, targeting soldiers returning to their basal aft a counterinsurgency operation.

The ambush near astatine slightest 3 soldiers injured, 1 of whom is successful “serious” condition, aggregate information officials said. They spoke anonymously to VOA due to the fact that they were not authorized to sermon the details with the media. The ensuing clashes reportedly besides near respective assailants dead.

The Pakistan military’s media helping did not instantly remark connected the deadly onslaught oregon the reported casualties that followed.

Separately, dozens of heavy equipped men stormed a information outpost successful the province’s militancy-hit Bannu territory Monday evening, taking 7 equipped constabulary officers hostage. Police officials successful the country reported that an cognition to way down the assailants and rescue the abducted unit was nether way.

Several districts successful the Pakistani borderline province, including Khyber and Bannu, routinely acquisition attacks connected information forces, which are mostly attributed to oregon claimed by the Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan, oregon TTP, an outlawed militant group.

TTP-led militants successful Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and taste Baloch separatists successful Pakistan’s southwestern Balochistan, which borders Afghanistan, person lately intensified their attacks.

The militant unit has killed much than 1,100 Pakistani information forces and civilians nationwide truthful acold this year, according to information reported by the Islamabad-based, autarkic Center for Research and Security Studies.

TTP is declared a violent radical by the United Nations, portion the Baloch Liberation Army, which is believed to beryllium the largest insurgent radical successful Balochistan, is designated arsenic a overseas violent enactment by the United States.

BLA claimed work for 2 attacks past week, including a railway presumption termination bombing, that collectively killed astatine slightest 34 soldiers.

Pakistani leaders person persistently complained that TTP and Baloch insurgents orchestrate cross-border coercion from Afghan bases, charges the neighboring country’s de facto Taliban authorities deny.

A U.S. authorities watchdog, the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction, oregon SIGAR, reported this period that “it remains unclear whether the Taliban person the volition and capableness to afloat destruct violent harmless havens oregon power the travel of overseas violent fighters successful and done Afghanistan."

SIGAR referenced U.N. findings successful its quarterly study to the U.S. Congress connected November 7, stating that al-Qaida operates 8 grooming camps successful Afghanistan, supplying the TTP with Afghan fighters and offering grooming facilities.

This prompted the U.N. sanctions monitoring squad to pass that “greater collaboration among al-Qaida affiliates and TTP could alteration the second into an “extra-regional threat,” the study stated.