Six soldiers and eight rebels killed in fighting in northwest Pakistan

Army says a high-ranking officer among those killed as the military clashes with rebels in two incidents.

Six Pakistani soldiers and at least eight rebels have been killed in two clashes in the restive northwest, the military says.

The military’s media wing said on Saturday that Lieutenant Colonel Muhammad Ali Shoukat was among the six soldiers killed in overnight fighting in the North Waziristan district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province along with six rebels.

“Security forces of Pakistan are determined to wipe out the menace of terrorism, and such sacrifices of our brave soldiers further strengthen our resolve,” Inter-Services Public Relations said.

The army said that in a separate operation, it killed two rebels in Swat, another district in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. One of them was said to have been involved in an attack on a convoy of foreign ambassadors in the area this month.

The Ministry of Interior reported that in 2023 alone, 930 people, primarily security personnel, lost their lives to “acts of terrorism” and about 2,000 were injured.

In March, an armed group attacked a military post in North Waziristan using a vehicle laden with explosives as well as suicide vests, killing seven security force members.

North Waziristan has long served as a base for Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan, also known as the Pakistan Taliban, and other groups. The army said a few years ago that it had cleared the region of rebel groups. Occasional attacks have continued, however, raising concerns that the Pakistan Taliban are regrouping in the area.

The Pakistan Taliban is a separate group from Afghanistan’s Taliban, but the two are allies.

The Afghan Taliban seized power in Afghanistan for a second time in 2021 as the United States and other NATO forces were in the final stages of their pullout from the country.

Since then, the Pakistan Taliban have stepped up attacks on security forces, especially in the northwest.