Six Pakistani soldiers killed in clash with Taliban

Attacks by Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan are straining ties between Islamabad and Kabul

A soldier on guard along the border fence near the Kitton outpost on the border with Afghanistan in North Waziristan, Pakistan. Reuters

Six Pakistani soldiers have been killed in a clash with the Pakistani branch of the Taliban in a troubled frontier region of the country, near Afghanistan.

The attack is the latest incident in an increase in violence in the rugged borderlands, a zone of conflict also affected by a Baloch separatist insurgency.

"A fire exchange took place between terrorists and our own troops," the army said in a statement describing the incident in North Waziristan.

North Waziristan is one of Pakistan’s governorates that has suffered severe spill-over from decades of conflict in Afghanistan but, since 2007, a home-grown militant movement has emerged, creating a centre of violence at the hands of the Pakistani Taliban, also known as Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP).

In 2017, the army tried to stamp out the movement, sending tens of thousands of troops into the mountainous area, many parts of which are barely accessible by road.

Nearly 900 troops and, by the army’s estimate, 2,000 Taliban were killed in two years of fighting.

The latest bloodshed comes after Pakistan declared a new offensive against militants after a resurgence of attacks, including a mosque bombing that killed more than 100 people in February.

Islamabad says the Islamist militants enjoy safe haven in Afghanistan to plan and execute the attacks, a charge Kabul denies.

Amir Khan Muttaqi, foreign minister of Afghanistan's Taliban administration, is arriving in Islamabad on Friday for meetings with his Pakistani and Chinese counterparts.

Three terrorists were killed when soldiers engaged them, the army said, adding that it was searching the area to determine if any more attackers were in hiding.

The incident came within a week of attacks by Islamist militants, including an assault by a suicide bomber who drove into a military base just outside Pakistan's lawless tribal district, killing three soldiers.

The TTP group has been behind most attacks against the state, which have become more frequent since last year after it revoked a ceasefire and peace talks with the government in Islamabad collapsed.

The government says the peace talks allowed the release from prison of hundreds of the militants and their leaders, enabling them to regroup and launch new attacks.