Seven soldiers were martyred in an IED blast in Lakki Marwat, a district in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa bordering Afghanistan. The military reported the tragic incident on Sunday. The attack killed six enlisted men and one officer.
A senior police officer in Lakki Marwat told AFP that the explosion completely destroyed the vehicle. “We have received information that the vehicle came under fire after the blast,” he added, speaking on condition of anonymity.
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa is known for its militant activity, including groups like the Pakistani Taliban and ISIS. “Lakki Marwat is one of the districts in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa most affected by terrorism,” the senior police officer noted.
No group immediately claimed responsibility for the attack. However, the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) is the most active militant group in the area, often targeting security forces.
Militant attacks in Pakistan have surged since the Taliban took power in Afghanistan in August 2021. Last year, there were 29 suicide attacks, the most since 2014, resulting in 329 deaths, according to the Pakistan Institute for Conflict and Security Studies.
Islamabad accuses Kabul’s new rulers of failing to eliminate militants who plan attacks on Pakistani soil. The Taliban government denies these allegations, asserting that Afghan territory will not harbor foreign militants. Despite these denials, analysts believe the TTP and Afghan Taliban share a common ideology and lineage.
In January 2023, the TTP was linked to a suicide bombing at a mosque in Peshawar, which killed over 80 police officers. More recently, in September, Pakistan reported that four troops were killed during a cross-border raid by hundreds of TTP fighters in Chitral, an area popular with domestic tourists.
