PESHAWAR: At least three Pakistani paramilitary troops were killed when unidentified militants attacked a security checkpoint in the northwestern Kurram district, a police official said on Sunday.
Kurram, a tribal district of around 600,000 that borders Afghanistan, has been the flashpoint for sectarian tensions between Shia and Sunni tribes, with clashes between both sides claiming more than 150 lives since Nov. last year.
In the latest incident, militants attacked a security checkpoint that killed three personnel of the Frontier Constabulary (FC) paramilitary force and injured four others, according to Kurram police spokesman Riaz Khan.
“Security forces were targeted by unidentified miscreants at around 5:15am within the limits of Chinarak police station in the Tukre Patti area of Central Kurram,” Khan told Arab News. “Further surveillance is ongoing.”
No group immediately claimed responsibility for the attack.
Last month, five Pakistani troops and a truck driver were killed after insurgents attacked trucks carrying aid to the restive district that has been cut off from the rest of the country since Nov., according to Abbas Majid, a senior police official. Authorities blocked roads following clashes between heavily armed tribes, causing a shortage of food and medicines in the district.
Shiite Muslims dominate parts of Kurram, although they are a minority in the rest of Pakistan, which is majority Sunni. The warring tribes reached a peace agreement on Jan. 1, but sporadic violence has continued in Kurram and both sides have occasionally engaged in battles with machine guns and heavy weapons.
Authorities have been airlifting the injured and ailing from Kurram to the provincial capital of Peshawar, and airdropping essential supplies in the region via helicopters since Jan. this year.
Last year was the deadliest in a decade for Pakistan, home to 250 million people, with a surge in attacks that killed more than 1,600 people, according to the Center for Research and Security Studies, an Islamabad-based analysis group.
Militants kill three Pakistani paramilitary troops in restive northwestern district — police
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Militants kill three Pakistani paramilitary troops in restive northwestern district — police
- Kurram has been the flashpoint for sectarian tensions, with clashes between Shia and Sunni tribes claiming over 150 lives since Nov.
- The attack follows an ambush on an aid convoy that killed five Pakistani troops and a truck driver in the restive district last month
If India doesn’t want handshakes, Pakistan has no desire for it either— PCB
- Indian cricketers have refused to shake hands with their Pakistani counterparts in recent matches
- Pakistan’s senior men’s cricket team willl next face India on Feb. 15 in T20 World Cup group clash
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) Chairman Mohsin Naqvi recently criticized the Indian cricket team’s “no-handshake” policy, saying Pakistani cricketers will also refrain from the friendly gesture if it persists.
The Indian cricket team has refused to shake hands with their Pakistani counterparts in recent matches between the two sides. This policy made headlines worldwide in September when the two sides met for the Asia Cup 2025 in three cricket matches, with the Indian team refusing to shake hands with Pakistani team members each time.
India’s new policy to not shake hands with Pakistani cricketers took place months after the two nuclear-armed neighbors clashed in a four-day military conflict in May. Washington eventually intervened and brokered a ceasefire on May 10 after four days of conflict.
“If they do not want to do handshakes, then we also have no desire for it either,” Naqvi told reporters at a press conference on Sunday.
The PCB chairman, who is also Pakistan’s interior minister, said cricket matters related to India will be decided on an “equal footing.”
“It won’t happen that they do one thing and we beg them in return,” Naqvi said. “This won’t happen.”
Pakistan’s Under-19 squad this month defeated India in a one-sided final for the U-19 Asia Cup tournament in Dubai.
Pakistan’s senior men’s cricket team is set to face India in Sri Lanka on Feb. 15 in a group stage clash for the ICC T20 World Cup 2026.
