ISLAMABAD: Five Pakistani soldiers and 25 Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) militants were killed in two separate engagements near the country’s border with Afghanistan, the Pakistani military said on Sunday, as amid talks between Islamabad and Kabul in Turkiye to firm up a truce between the neighbors.
The talks in Istanbul, which began on Saturday, mark the latest attempt by Pakistan and Afghanistan to prevent a relapse into violence after deadly border skirmishes between the neighbors this month killed dozens of people on both sides.
Despite the ongoing talks, Pakistan’s military said it engaged two large groups of TTP militants who were trying to infiltrate into Pakistan from Afghanistan in the northwestern Kurram and North Waziristan districts.
The deceased militants included four suicide bombers, security forces seized a sizeable cache of weapons, ammunition and explosives during the raids, according to the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), the military’s media wing.
“It is significant to point out that these infiltration attempts by Fitna al Khwarij (TTP militants) are being carried out at a time when delegations of Pakistan and Afghanistan are engaged in talks in Türkiye, casting doubts on intentions of interim Afghan government with regards to addressing the issue of terrorism emanating from its soil,” the ISPR said.
