A powerful roadside bomb struck a military vehicle in northwestern Pakistan, a stronghold of the militants, on Thursday, killing three soldiers and wounding four, the Pakistani military said. The Pakistani Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack, fearing they were regrouping in the region.
The bomber struck as troops were
patrolling North Waziristan in Afghanistan's Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province,
according to the military statement. He said the bomb was planted by suspected
terrorists to target soldiers guarding road construction teams. The military
said troops had cordoned off the area and launched a search operation.
Pakistani Taliban spokesman Muhammad Khurasani
has claimed responsibility for the attack, which he said was launched’ in South
Waziristan. Speaking to the Associated Press on condition of anonymity, two
Pakistani intelligence officials said they did not have the authority to speak
to journalists, adding that the attack took place in South Waziristan.
Conflicting reports about the location of
the attack could not be immediately resolved. The Pakistani Taliban, or
Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan, is a separate insurgent group from the Afghan
Taliban.
The area has been a base for Pakistani and
foreign militants in recent years, with the military claiming to have cleared
it.
The United States has been targeting the
military and civilians throughout the country since 2001, when the Islamic
State joined the US-led war on terror. Since then, the insurgents have declared
war on the Pakistani government and carried out several attacks, including a
brutal attack on an army-run school in Peshawar in 2014 that killed 140
children and several teachers.
Pakistani militant groups are often linked’
to Afghanistan across the border.
According to a recent US report, more than
6,000 Pakistani insurgents are hiding in Afghanistan, mostly from the banned
Pakistani Taliban, which has stepped up attacks on troops in the region in
recent weeks.
Meanwhile, an Afghan soldier was killed’
and three others were injured in a border clash with Pakistani troops on
Thursday, an Afghan provincial official said.
Attaullah Khogywni, spokesman for the
governor of Nangarhar province, said the incident erupted when Afghan troops
tried to stop Pakistani border guards from carrying out construction work in
order to increase the number of installations that Afghans appear to be
encroaching on.
There was no comment from Pakistani
officials, and Khogywani said the situation was later resolved.
Pakistani and Afghan troops often exchange
fire along the border to prevent militants from launching cross-border attacks,
which the Pakistani side has been fencing off since 2017.
Pakistan considers the colonial-era
division in 1893, which drew a 2,500 km (1,500 mi) line between the two
countries, known as the Durand Line, known as an international border. Yes,
while Kabul has never recognized these limits.
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