Five personnel were killed during an exchange of fire with terrorists in Balochistan province of southwestern Pakistan, the country’s military media wing said.
The security forces conducted an operation in the Buleda area of Kech District when terrorists exploded an Improvised Explosive Device on a security forces’ vehicle, triggering an intense fire exchange, said the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR).
The security personnel immediately responded to the fire and effectively engaged the terrorists, killing three of them. However, five soldiers were left dead during the operation. Sanitization operations are being carried out to eliminate any other terrorists found in the area.
Earlier this week, a dozen armed militants attacked a police checkpoint on a northwestern highway, killing three police officers and a civilian before fleeing the scene. The attack took place in Kohat, a district in the restive Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province bordering Afghanistan. In another incident, two soldiers and two militants were killed in an exchange of fire in Khyber’s Lakki Marwat this week.
The slain militants were from the Pakistani Taliban who are known as Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan, or TTP. They are a separate group but allied with the Afghan Taliban, who took over Afghanistan in August 2021, following the withdrawal of U.S. and NATO forces from the country. The takeover emboldened the TTP, who often carry out attacks near the Afghan border and elsewhere in the country.
These frequent clashes come as the TTP has extended its influence southward into Balochistan in the past two years. This expansion, coupled with persistent assaults on Pakistani security forces, led to Pakistan declaring a comprehensive nationwide offensive in April last year aimed at eliminating the militants.
(With agency inputs)
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