Pakistan reported Saturday that at least 16 soldiers were killed in clashes with militants near the Afghanistan border.
A military statement said the predawn violence occurred when a group of heavily armed militants stormed an outpost in the volatile South Waziristan border district, in one of the deadliest attacks on Pakistani troops in recent months.
The ensuing clashes also killed eight assailants, according to the military.
"[A] sanitization operation is being conducted in the area, and the perpetrators of the heinous act will be brought to justice," the statement said. It did not give further details.
A Pakistani security official told VOA the militant attack also left eight soldiers wounded, and several of them were in critical condition. The official spoke anonymously because he was not authorized to discuss the matter with the media.
The Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan, or TTP, a banned militant group, reportedly claimed responsibility for the deadly raid, saying that it was carried out in retaliation for the death of one of its senior commanders during clashes with Pakistani troops earlier this week in the nearby Tank district.
Pakistan reiterated while briefing a United Nations Security Council meeting last week that TTP, also known as the Pakistani Taliban, was orchestrating terrorist attacks from Afghan sanctuaries.
"The TTP, with 6,000 fighters, is the largest listed terrorist organization operating in Afghanistan. With safe havens close to our border, it poses a direct and daily threat to Pakistan's security," said Usman Iqbal Jadoon, Pakistan's representative at the United Nations.
"Given its long association with al-Qaida, the TTP could emerge as al-Qaida's arm with a regional and global terrorist agenda," Jadoon asserted without elaborating.
Pakistani authorities allege that Afghanistan's Taliban authorities are facilitating the TTP in carrying out cross-border terrorism. The U.N. and the United States have designated the TTP as a global terrorist organization.
Last week, the U.S. State Department released its annual report on terrorism, which supported Pakistan's assertions. The report criticized the Taliban government for failing to uphold its commitment that Afghan territory would not be used to support or to launch attacks against the U.S. and its allies by terrorist groups, including TTP and the Islamic State-Khorasan, a regional Islamic State affiliate.
"Pakistan saw a rise in terrorist attacks from both ISIS-K and TTP, both in frequency and in number of casualties, likely enabled by close proximity and the porous border with Afghanistan," the U.S. report noted, using an acronym for the Afghan-based Islamic State offshoot.
Taliban leaders deny allegations Afghanistan is being used by foreign militants, such as TTP and IS-Khorasan, to threaten other countries, including Pakistan.
Pakistani officials have reported a dramatic surge in militant attacks since the Taliban seized power in Afghanistan, saying the violence has claimed the lives of hundreds of soldiers and police force members in 2024 alone.
