PESHAWAR: Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) militants martyred six paramilitary personnel and abducted eight others during an attack on a checkpoint in Peshawar, security officials said on Tuesday.
Dozens of members of the militant group, which claimed responsibility for the attack, stormed a checkpoint in the city of Peshawar with firearms, hand grenades and mortar shells on Monday, a security official told AFP on condition of anonymity because they were not authorised to speak to media.
“Six personnel of the Federal Constabulary (FC) were martyred and four others wounded in an attack carried out by armed militants,” said a second security official, referring to Pakistan’s paramilitary force which contributes to much of the frontline security in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, which borders Afghanistan.
“The militants abducted eight FC personnel and took them to an undisclosed location,” the second source said.
Pakistan’s military did not immediately respond to request for comment.
The TTP posted an image of the men it had abducted on its social media channel and claimed responsibility for the attack. Pakistan has been fighting growing insurgencies in its western regions that border Afghanistan, which Islamabad accuses of harbouring militants — an assertion the Afghan Taliban government in Kabul has repeatedly denied.
Last month, militants killed 26 people in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in several attacks. Relations between Kabul and Islamabad have deteriorated sharply in recent months over the militancy allegations, with diplomatic tensions escalating into deadly cross-border clashes including Pakistani airstrikes inside Afghanistan.
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