Six soldiers, 6 terrorists killed in Pak gunfight

Six soldiers, including an officer, and as many terrorists were killed in a gunfight in Pakistan’s restive Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, the military said on Saturday.

In a statement, the military’s media wing Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) said the exchange of fire took place on the intervening night of October 4 and 5 in the Spinwam area in North Waziristan district, bordering Afghanistan. As many as six soldiers, including a Lieutenant Colonel, and ‘six Khwarij’ were killed in the gunfight.

During the ‘intense fire exchange’, Lieutenant Colonel Muhammad Ali Shoukat (43), who was leading the operation against the terrorists, was killed along with five other soldiers, the statement said.

Meanwhile, the banned Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) has claimed the responsibility for the attack.

The TTP was set up as an umbrella group of several militant outfits in 2007. Pakistan has officially declared it as ‘Fitna al-Khawarij’ and the notification by the Interior Ministry emphasises the use of the term ‘khariji’ (outlawed) along with the names of such terrorists.

The Pakistani government has repeatedly accused the TTP of operating from sanctuaries in Afghanistan, a claim denied by the Afghan Taliban.