Authorities in Pakistan said Thursday that clashes with militants and a suspected sectarian-based shooting incident in areas abutting Afghanistan had killed at least 13 people, including six soldiers.
A military statement said Pakistani troops had engaged a "terrorists' location" in the North Waziristan border district, killing three and wounding two others in the ensuing shootout.
"However, during an intense exchange of fire, six brave soldiers, having fought gallantly, embraced shahadat [martyrdom]," the statement said without further details.
The banned Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan, or TTP, claimed responsibility for the violence. The militant group, also known as the Pakistani Taliban, said security forces had tried to conduct a raid against TTP members in the area but were ambushed in the process, leaving seven of them dead.
It was not possible to immediately verify the militant claim from independent sources, although the Waziristan region served as a TTP stronghold until a few years ago.
Separately, police and hospital officials in another district, Kurram, on the Afghan border, said unknown gunmen had stormed a school and killed seven teachers, mostly members of the minority Shi'ite community.
No group immediately took responsibility for the shooting incident in the district center, Parachinar. The Pakistani region has long suffered from sectarian tensions between majority Sunni and minority Shi'ite communities.
Surge in TTP attacks
The TTP carries out almost daily attacks against security forces in North Waziristan and surrounding districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, which borders Afghanistan.
The Pakistani Taliban is an offshoot and close ally of Afghanistan's ruling fundamentalist Taliban. Pakistan maintains fugitive TTP leaders have long taken refuge on the Afghan side and direct cross-border terrorism from there.
The 2021 Taliban takeover of the neighboring conflict-torn country has seen a dramatic surge in TTP attacks in Pakistan, straining bilateral ties with Afghanistan.
Islamabad says the TTP has enjoyed greater operational freedom and intensified cross-border terrorism since the Taliban seized power in Kabul.
Thursday's violence comes a day before Afghan Taliban Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi is scheduled to visit Islamabad for talks with Pakistani officials on bilateral politics, trade and matters related to regional stability.
The surge in TTP attacks will likely figure high in the meetings amid repeated demands for Kabul to rein in TTP activities on Afghan soil. The Pakistani Taliban is designated a terrorist organization by the United States.
Muttaqi's government denies allowing any group to use Afghan soil against any country, including Pakistan.
During his stay in Islamabad, the Taliban foreign minister will also participate in a new round of dialogue involving Afghanistan, China and Pakistan. Muttaqi's office in Kabul said he would discuss "regional stability and connectivity" with Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang and his Pakistani counterpart, Bilawal Bhutto Zardari.
