Troops clash with ‘hundreds’ of Pakistan Taliban near Afghan border

Pakistan troops repelled a deadly cross-border raid from Afghanistan by "hundreds" of Pakistan Taliban militants on Wednesday, a senior official said, with extra forces rushed to the rugged frontier region. (AFP/File)
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Updated 06 September 2023
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Troops clash with ‘hundreds’ of Pakistan Taliban near Afghan border

  • “They were in hundreds and were armed with light and heavy weapons,” Mohammad Ali, deputy commissioner of Chitral district, told AFP
  • He said four Pakistan troops were killed, along with nine militants, in hours-long battles that began before dawn

PESHAWAR: Pakistan troops repelled a deadly cross-border raid from Afghanistan by “hundreds” of Pakistan Taliban militants on Wednesday, a senior official said, with extra forces rushed to the rugged frontier region.
“They were in hundreds and were armed with light and heavy weapons. We were ready to face the attack and exchange of fire continued for some four hours,” Mohammad Ali, deputy commissioner of Chitral district, told AFP.
Pakistan’s home-grown Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) movement has been emboldened by the return to power of the Taliban in Afghanistan in 2021, and Islamabad regularly accuses its neighbor of harboring militants — a charge they deny.
Ali said four Pakistan troops were killed, along with nine militants, in hours-long battles that began before dawn.
“We were monitoring their movements in areas close to the border for two or three days... Informers have also sent us information about the militant group movement, so we were ready to face them,” Ali said.
In a statement, the TTP claimed to have seized two military posts in the Bomburit area of Chitral.


Interoceanic Train derails in southern Mexico, killing at least 13 and injuring dozens

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Interoceanic Train derails in southern Mexico, killing at least 13 and injuring dozens

  • he Interoceanic Train linking the states of Oaxaca and Veracruz went off the rails Sunday as it passed a curve near the town of Nizanda
  • Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum says 13 people died and another 98 people were injured when a train derailed
MEXICO CITY: Officials said a train accident in southern Mexico killed at least 13 people and injured dozens, halting traffic along a rail line connecting the Pacific Ocean with the Gulf of Mexico.
The Interoceanic Train linking the states of Oaxaca and Veracruz went off the rails Sunday as it passed a curve near the town of Nizanda.
“The Mexican Navy has informed me that, tragically, 13 people died in the Interoceanic Train accident,” Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum posted on X, adding that 98 people are injured, five of them seriously.
She said she instructed the secretary of the navy and the undersecretary of human rights of the Ministry of the Interior to travel to the site and personally assist the families.
In a message on X Sunday, Oaxaca state Gov. Salomon Jara said several government agencies had reached the site of the accident to assist the injured.
Officials said that 241 passengers and nine crew members were on the train when the accident occurred.
The Interoceanic Train was inaugurated in 2023 by then President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador. The rail service is part of a broader push to boost train travel in southern Mexico, and develop infrastructure along the isthmus of Tehuantepec, a narrow stretch of land between the Pacific Ocean and the Gulf of Mexico.
The Mexican government plans to turn the isthmus into a strategic corridor for international trade, with ports and rail lines that can connect the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. The Interoceanic train currently runs from the port of Salina Cruz on the Pacific Ocean to Coatzacoalcos, covering a distance of approximately 180 miles (290 kilometers).