Pakistan Army: Attack on checkpoint, seven soldiers and six attackers killed

Seven Pakistani soldiers and six attackers were killed today in northwest Pakistan in an attack on a military checkpoint - the army announced.

Six attackers attacked a security post early this morning near Mir Ali in North Waziristan district near the border with Afghanistan.

After the initial failed attempt, they carried out a car bomb attack and then several suicide attacks.

For months, especially since the return of the Taliban to power in Afghanistan in August 2021, Pakistan has been struggling with worsening security, especially in the border areas.

Islamabad believes that some of these attacks were planned from Afghan soil where the attackers have sanctuaries, which Kabul denies.

Most of the attacks are carried out by the Pakistani Taliban Tehrek e Taliban (TTP), a group that is separate from the Afghan Taliban but shares the same Islamist ideology.

North Waziristan is one of the former semi-autonomous tribal areas in northwest Pakistan where the Pakistani military has conducted many operations against insurgents linked to the Al Qaeda network and the Taliban since the 2001 invasion of Afghanistan by the US and its NATO allies.