Pakistani troops kill 2 militants in raid close to Afghan border
ISLAMABAD (AP) — Troops raided a militant hideout in a former Pakistani Taliban stronghold close to the border with Afghanistan on Friday, triggering a shootout that killed two insurgents, the army stated.
Pakistani Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif summoned the nation’s opposition chief to forge a response to the latest surge in violence, together with a mosque bombing that killed 101 folks.
Troops on Friday recovered a cache of weapons in a militant hideout in North Waziristan, a district of the northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, the army stated in a press release. The militants killed throughout the raid had been concerned in previous assaults on safety forces, it added. The assertion supplied no additional particulars, and the id of the slain militants was not instantly recognized.
Troops routinely perform such raids to hint and arrest the Pakistani Taliban, who’re also called the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan.
The Pakistani Taliban are a separate group however are allies of the Afghan Taliban, who seized energy in Afghanistan a yr in the past as U.S. and NATO troops had been within the ultimate levels of their pullout. The Taliban takeover in Afghanistan has emboldened the Pakistani Taliban, who’ve stepped up assaults since November once they ended the ceasefire with the federal government.
The newest improvement comes days after a suicide bomber attacked a mosque on the compound of police within the northwestern metropolis of Peshawar, killing 101 folks. Authorities say the bomber wore a police uniform and the guards on the website assumed he was a police officer — their colleague — and didn’t search him.
On Friday, Sharif stated in a televised tackle that he had invited his predecessor and now opposition chief, Imran Khan, and different officers to a convention Tuesday to debate subsequent steps. There was no instant response from Khan, who was ousted in a no-conference vote in Parliament in April final yr.
Sharif stated Monday’s assault contained in the mosque was carried out by a suicide bomber, and there was no fact in allegations and claims that it was a drone assault.
Pakistan blames the Pakistani Taliban, who keep sanctuaries in Afghanistan, for orchestrating the bombing that wounded 225 wounded. Police say a lot of the casualties weren’t attributable to the detonation of the bomber’s explosives however by the collapse of the roof of the 50-year-old Peshawar mosque. The power of the blast induced the roof, which was supported by exterior partitions however no pillars, to collapse.