ISLAMABAD: Five Pakistani security personnel have been killed in a militant attack near the border with Afghanistan, the military said on Saturday.
The attack took place in the Spinwam area of North Waziristan, in the northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, the military’s media wing, ISPR, said in a statement. The five security personnel killed were four Frontier Corps soldiers a Levies subinspector.
“Terrorists targeted security forces vehicle in Spinwam, North Waziristan,” the ISPR said. “Clearance operation is in progress to eliminate any terrorist found in the area.”
Earlier in the day, the attack was claimed by the Pakistani Taliban, or Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), but the ISPR did not confirm it.
The militant group, which is a separate entity from the Afghan Taliban, has carried out numerous past attacks in Pakistan, including the 2014 deadly attack on a Peshawar school that killed 154 people, mostly schoolchildren, and an attack on Nobel Laureate Malala Yousafzai.
Last month, President Arif Alvi and Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi announced the government was willing to offer amnesty to TTP members if they renounced violence and adhered to the country’s constitution, but the group it was proud of its “struggle” and was not seeking forgiveness from anyone.
North Waziristan served as a headquarters for local and foreign militants in the 2000s, until 2017, when the Pakistani army completed several operations in the mountainous region.
Recently, attacks in the area have been on the rise, targeting mainly security forces.
Militants kill five Pakistani troops near Afghan border
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Militants kill five Pakistani troops near Afghan border
- Security forces were ambushed in the Spinwam area of North Waziristan
- Attack was claimed by Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan but the Pakistani military did not confirm it
Pakistan says $50 million meat export deal with Tajikistan nearing finalization
- Islamabad expects to finalize agreement soon after Dushanbe signals demand for 100,000 tons
- Pakistan is seeking to expand agricultural trade beyond rice, citrus and mango exports
ISLAMABAD: Tajikistan has expressed interest in importing 100,000 tons of Pakistani meat worth more than $50 million, with both governments expected to finalize a supply agreement soon, Pakistan’s food security ministry said on Tuesday.
Pakistan is trying to grow agriculture-based exports as it seeks regional markets for livestock and food commodities, while Tajikistan, a landlocked Central Asian state, has been expanding food imports to support domestic demand. Pakistan currently exports rice, citrus and mangoes to Dushanbe, though volumes remain small compared to national production, according to official figures.
The development came during a meeting in Islamabad between Pakistan’s Federal Minister for National Food Security and Research Rana Tanveer Hussain and Ambassador of Tajikistan Yusuf Sharifzoda, where agricultural trade, livestock supply and food-security cooperation were discussed.
“Tajikistan intends to purchase 100,000 tons of meat from Pakistan, an import valued at over USD 50 million,” the ambassador said, according to the ministry’s statement, assuring full facilitation and that Islamabad was prepared to meet the demand.
The statement said the two sides agreed to expand cooperation in meat and livestock, fresh fruit, vegetables, staple crops, agricultural research, pest management and standards compliance. Pakistan also proposed strengthening coordination on phytosanitary rules and establishing pest-free production zones to support long-term exports.
Pakistan and Tajikistan have long maintained political ties but bilateral food trade remains below potential: Pakistan produces 1.8 million tons of mangoes annually but exported just 0.7 metric tons to Tajikistan in 2024, while rice exports amounted to only 240 metric tons in 2022 out of national output of 9.3 million tons. Pakistan imports mainly ginned cotton from Tajikistan.
