Pakistani troops, backed by additional troops deployed to the rugged border region, repelled an attack by “hundreds” of Pakistani Taliban from Afghanistan on Wednesday, a senior official said. Hundreds of TTP militants of Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan armed with light and heavy weapons attacked two military posts in Kalash in Chitral district.
The TTP commander claimed in a statement that he had captured several villages and two military posts in the Bomburit region and that six Pakistani soldiers were killed by his group in the exchange of fire. The deputy district commissioner confirmed the deaths of four soldiers and “twelve terrorists were sent to hell.” Information cannot be verified.
Increase in the number of attacks
The attack was carried out on the day Pakistan celebrates Defense Day, which commemorates the sacrifices of Pakistani soldiers who died while defending its borders. An opportunity for the TTP, emboldened by the Taliban’s return to power in Afghanistan, to remind the Pakistani government that it will not give up its fight to enforce sharia law and overthrow the army, which it calls a fraud.
The Pakistani Taliban share a radical Islamist ideology with their Afghan counterparts. The group was formed in 2007 when militants fighting alongside the Taliban in Afghanistan defected to focus their insurgency in Islamabad. During the first 12 months of Taliban rule in Afghanistan, Pakistan experienced a 50% more attacks According to the Pak Institute for Peace Studies (PIPS), the attacks are being carried out by Islamist militants concentrated in the western border provinces.
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