Pakistan: At least 11 Army soldiers killed as TTP capture several villages at Afghanistan border

Islamabad, Sept 7: Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), also known as Pakistan Taliban, on Wednesday launched a "large-scale" assault in Chitral district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan. It has reportedly captured several villages in the area and as many as 11 Pakistani security personnel have been killed.

Many videos of the incident have been going viral on the social media platforms. Various unconfirmed videos on X show the TTP army entering Chitral district. Unverified videos also show several soldiers who have been captured.

 

Posts on X (formerly known as Twitter) also claimed that clashes took place between Pakistani forces and TTP along the Durand Line, resulting in the closure of the Torkham border crossing.

 

Several personnel of Pakistani forces were killed in the clashes, the posts on X claimed.

 

 

The Pakistani media, for obvious reasons, is silent as of now about the clashes.

 

"We want to say to people of Chitral that you should remain clam. No harm will come to you. Our war is against usurping and oppressive security agencies," TTP spokesman Muhammad Khurasani said in a statement released to local media.

 

The TTP had declared an all-out war against the Pakistani military in November 2022, vowing to defeat it and establish Sharia laws in Pakistan. Recently, Pakistan has been hit by a wave of terrorist activities orchestrated by the terror outfit. The outfit, which is believed to be close to al-Qaida, has been blamed for several deadly attacks across Pakistan.

 

On September 2, a Pakistan Army Major and a soldier were killed in a gunbattle with TTP militants during an intelligence-based operation in the restive northwest tribal district bordering Afghanistan. Two days earlier, nine Pakstani soldiers were killed in a suicide attack by the TTP in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province.