Six security forces killed, eleven injured in terrorist attack in Pakistan's Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province

Peshawar: Six security personnel were killed and 11 others injured in a terrorist attack on a security checkpoint in Pakistan's troubled Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province on the border with Afghanistan on the night of Thursday to Friday, officials said.

The Pakistani Taliban Front (TTP) has claimed responsibility for the attack.

According to officials, a group of militants attacked the security check post in Mishta village in Ladha tehsil of South Waziristan district, leaving six security personnel dead and 11 others injured.

An official source said a mop-up operation was underway to neutralise the threat. The attack came amid rising tensions in the region. The TTP has been active in the region and has carried out several similar attacks against security forces.

The Pakistani government has repeatedly accused the TTP of operating from safe areas in Afghanistan. The Afghan Taliban deny this claim.

Since the Taliban took over the government in Kabul in 2021, Pakistan has seen a rise in terrorist attacks, dashing hopes in Islamabad that a friendly government in Afghanistan would help curb militancy. Relations between the two countries have been strained recently, mainly because of the TTP, but also due to frequent border skirmishes.

The TTP was founded in 2007 as an umbrella organization of several militant groups. The Pakistani government officially called the banned organization “Fitna al-Khawarij,” a reference to a group from earlier Islamic history that was involved in violence.