Pakistan: Six soldiers, 6 TTP terrorists killed in gunfight

Six soldiers and as many terrorists were killed in a gunfight in Pakistan's volatile Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, according to a statement from the Pakistan military on Saturday.

Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), the military's media wing, said that the exchange of fire occurred during the night between October 4-5 in the Spinwam area of North Waziristan district, which shares a border with Afghanistan.

Lieutenant colonel Muhammad Ali Shoukat, aged 43, who was leading the operation against the terrorists, lost his life along with five other soldiers during the "intense fire exchange", the Pakistan military said.

The banned Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) has claimed responsibility for the attack. The TTP, established in 2007 as an umbrella organization for several militant groups, has been officially declared as 'Fitna al-Khawarij' by the Pakistani government. The interior ministry's notification emphasizes the use of the term 'khariji' (outlawed) when referring to such terrorists.

Pakistan has repeatedly accused the TTP of operating from sanctuaries in Afghanistan, a claim that the Afghan Taliban denies. Since the Taliban's takeover of the government in Kabul in 2021, there has been a rise in terrorist incidents in Pakistan, shattering hopes in Islamabad that a friendly government in Afghanistan would help combat militancy.

The relationship between the two countries has recently become strained, primarily due to the TTP and frequent border skirmishes.