A high-ranking army officer and five other soldiers were killed in a gunfight with terrorists in Pakistan’s restive Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, the military said on Saturday.
In a statement, the military’s media wing Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) said the exchange of fire took place on Friday night at Spinwam area in North Waziristan district, bordering Afghanistan, during which “six khwarij” were also killed.
During the “intense fire exchange”, 43-year-old Lt. Col. Muhammad Ali Shoukat, who was leading the operation against the terrorists, was killed along with five soldiers, the statement said.
Meanwhile, the banned Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) has claimed responsibility for the attack.
The TTP was set up as an umbrella group of several militant outfits in 2007. Pakistan has officially declared the TTP as “Fitna al-Khawarij” and the notification by the interior ministry emphasises the use of the term “khariji” (outlawed) along with the names of such terrorists.
The government has accused the TTP of operating from Afghan sanctuaries. There has been a rise in terror incidents in Pakistan since the Taliban took over the government in Kabul in 2021.
