Pakistan’s military said its forces raided a militant hideout in a former stronghold of local Taliban in the country’s northwest near the border with Afghanistan, triggering an intense shootout that killed eight militants.
In an overnight statement, the military stated that the intelligence-based operation took place on Sunday in the South Waziristan district in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province and that troops seized weapons and ammunition from the hideout.
No further detail was given about the militants’ identities. But blame usually falls on the Pakistani Taliban, known as Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan or TTP, a separate group but allied with the Afghan Taliban, who seized power in Afghanistan in August 2021 as US and NATO troops were in the final stages of their pullout from the country after 20 years of war.
Many TTP leaders and fighters have found sanctuaries in Afghanistan since the Taliban takeover, which also emboldened the Pakistani Taliban who also often target troops across the country. This has caused a spike in tensions between the two countries with Pakistan demanding the Taliban administration stop the TTP from using Afghan soil to launch attacks.
This month, authorities in Pakistan started a crackdown on migrants living in the country illegally. Though Pakistani officials say it affects all foreigners residing illegally in the country, the crackdown has mostly affected the millions of Afghans living in Pakistan without documents. So far, more than 400,000 Afghans have returned to their home country for fear of arrest.
The Taliban-led administration in Afghanistan has denounced the forcible deportation and the United Nations warned it could lead to severe human rights violations.
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Pakistan army kill 8 militants during a raid along the border with Afghanistan
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Pakistan army kill 8 militants during a raid along the border with Afghanistan
- Intelligence-based operation took place on Sunday in the South Waziristan district in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province and that troops seized weapons and ammunition from the hideout
Bomb attacks on Thailand petrol stations injure 4: army
BANGKOK: Assailants detonated bombs at nearly a dozen petrol stations in Thailand’s south early Sunday, injuring four people, the army said, the latest attacks in the insurgency-hit region.
A low-level conflict since 2004 has killed thousands of people as rebels in the Muslim-majority region bordering Malaysia battle for greater autonomy.
Several bombs exploded within a 40-minute period after midnight on Sunday, igniting 11 petrol stations across Thailand’s southernmost provinces of Narathiwat, Pattani and Yala, an army statement said.
Authorities did not announce any arrests or say who may be behind the attacks.
“It happened almost at the same time. A group of an unknown number of men came and detonated bombs which damaged fuel pumps,” Narathiwat Governor Boonchauy Homyamyen told local media, adding that one police officer was injured in the province.
A firefighter and two petrol station employees were injured in Pattani province, the army said.
All four were admitted to hospitals, none with serious injuries, a Thai army spokesman told AFP.
Thailand’s Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul told reporters that security agencies believed the attacks were a “signal” timed with elections for local administrators taking place on Sunday, and “not aimed at insurgency.”
The army’s commander in the south, Narathip Phoynok, told reporters he ordered security measures raised to the “maximum level in all areas” including at road checkpoints and borders.
The nation’s deep south is culturally distinct from the rest of Buddhist-majority Thailand, which took control of the region more than a century ago.
The area is heavily policed by Thai security forces — the usual targets of insurgent attacks.
A low-level conflict since 2004 has killed thousands of people as rebels in the Muslim-majority region bordering Malaysia battle for greater autonomy.
Several bombs exploded within a 40-minute period after midnight on Sunday, igniting 11 petrol stations across Thailand’s southernmost provinces of Narathiwat, Pattani and Yala, an army statement said.
Authorities did not announce any arrests or say who may be behind the attacks.
“It happened almost at the same time. A group of an unknown number of men came and detonated bombs which damaged fuel pumps,” Narathiwat Governor Boonchauy Homyamyen told local media, adding that one police officer was injured in the province.
A firefighter and two petrol station employees were injured in Pattani province, the army said.
All four were admitted to hospitals, none with serious injuries, a Thai army spokesman told AFP.
Thailand’s Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul told reporters that security agencies believed the attacks were a “signal” timed with elections for local administrators taking place on Sunday, and “not aimed at insurgency.”
The army’s commander in the south, Narathip Phoynok, told reporters he ordered security measures raised to the “maximum level in all areas” including at road checkpoints and borders.
The nation’s deep south is culturally distinct from the rest of Buddhist-majority Thailand, which took control of the region more than a century ago.
The area is heavily policed by Thai security forces — the usual targets of insurgent attacks.
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