At least five Pakistani forces were killed Saturday night in the northwestern part of the country by gunfire from neighboring Afghanistan, an attack claimed by the Pakistani Taliban.
The bomber struck shortly after noon in front of a crowd of 2,000, killing at least nine Pakistani soldiers and wounding dozens more in the southwestern part of the country.
Since taking power in Afghanistan in August, the Taliban have vowed not to allow terrorist organizations to operate in the country; however, large numbers of Pakistani extremists have sought refuge on the other side of the porous border for many years.
Among them are members of the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (Taliban Movement in Pakistan, ISIL), which claimed responsibility for Sunday’s attack in the Kuram area of ​​the troubled Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province (northwest).
The JTI was encouraged after the Taliban returned to power in Afghanistan and intensified its attacks after the end of a monthly ceasefire with government troops late last year.
The Taliban movements in Afghanistan and Pakistan are distinct but share the same ideology. Each has members living on the other side of the border.
The JCC said its members had killed six Pakistani soldiers on Saturday night. The Pakistani military, for its part, said five Frontier Corps members were dead.
“The terrorists have suffered heavy casualties,” the staff added, adding that the armed forces were “determined to defend the country’s borders”.
In the southwestern province of Balochistan, Pakistani forces took four days until Saturday to end a series of separatist attacks.
According to the military, the Pakistani intelligence service stole communications that revealed that the perpetrators of these actions were linked to Afghanistan and India.
The separatists have been waging a guerrilla war for years in the vast province, with the uprising being fueled by the deep poverty of the population, despite the abundance of natural resources.
The fighting erupted as Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan paid an official visit to China, a country that has made major investments in Balochistan as part of its “new Silk Road” plan, which has escalated tensions.
A Pakistani security official told AFP on Friday that the attacks were intended to disrupt Mr Khan’s trip.
The China-Pakistan Economic Corridor project, which connects the Chinese province of Xinjiang with the strategically important port of Guadar in Balochistan, has been denounced by separatists for offering absolutely no benefit to the local population.
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