Peshawar, Apr 15: Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) has claimed to have killed more than 73 Pakistani soldiers and personnel of allied agencies and wounded several others in dozens of operations in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Gilgit-Baltistan during a span of 6 days starting April 8.
The biggest attack was carried out in Tank district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa where the TTP fighters detonated an improvised explosive device (IED) targeting a convoy of Pakistani Army commandos on April 10, according to its spokesman Muhammad Khorasani.
The explosion was followed by a firing attack, he said in a statement.
The attack left at least 20 Pakistani soldiers dead, he said.
This attack was carried out to avenge the killing of a cleric Mufti Saif ur Rahman by the Pakistani army, the spokesman said.
Separately, an official of the Pakistan Military Intelligence was killed in Debra Bazaar area of Tank district, he said on the same day.
The TTP also killed 2 members of the Pakistani military-supported so-called ‘Peace Committee’ in a targeted manner in Tank district.
Additionally, a landmine was detonated, targeting a military convoy, followed by firing in the same district, he said.
It resulted in unspecified number of deaths and injuries among the soldiers, he said.
On the same day in South Waziristan, a heavy armed clash took place between TTP fighters and the Pakistan Army in Litta area of Makin, he said.
The gunfight left 5 soldiers killed and 3 injured, he said, adding the TTP lost one fighter.
Two days prior to that, 6 Pakistani soldiers were killed and several injured in an intense clash in Bolton Abad area of Tank district, Khorasani said.
In North Waziristan, two personnel of the Frontier Corps (FC) paramilitary force were killed in an ambush by TTP at Shewa Chowk, he said.
A soldier was killed in an attack on military fort in Sararogha in South Waziristan on the same day.
The TTP also killed a soldier and two personnel of Counter-Terrorism Department (CTD) of police in three separate attacks in Peshawar district on April 10, he said.
A police Constable was killed in a targeted manner in New Adda area of Mardan district, he said.
On the following day, the TTP killed 6 personnel and several others of the Pakistani military in multiple attacks in North Waziristan, South Waziristan and Orakzai districts, according to the spokesman
Separately, in Mir Ali in North Waziristan, TTP fighters fired a 100 kg ballistic missile at a military camp, which struck accurately inside the camp, reportedly causing heavy casualties and material losses, Khorasani said.
The TTP militants then launched a follow-up assault on the same camp, with further casualties likely, he said.
In South Waziristan district, a soldier was killed and another injured in an attack in Shoi Khel area of Shawal on the same day, according to the spokesman.
In the same district, a sniper attack by TTP on a military foot patrol in Shamplain area of Guryum killed one soldier on the same day.
On April 12, a patrol party of Pakistan Army was ambushed in Shah Tangi Sar area of Wara Mahmund in Bajaur district, which resulted in the killing of 8 soldiers and injuries to 4 others, he said.
In a separate attack in the same district on the same day, the Pakistan military launched an attack on a TTP hideout in Khari Kamar area of Wara Mahmund, triggering a gunfight which left 6 soldiers killed and injured, Khorasani said.
On the same day, two Pakistani soldiers were killed in two separate attacks in Wana in South Waziristan and Peshawar districts, according to the TTP spokesman.
On April 13, a sniper attack by TTP on a military post in Kalaya in Orakzai district left two soldiers killed and several injured, he said.
In the same district, a separate attack was carried out on the police in Hangu, which resulted in the death of an officer and injuries to 4.
In North Waziristan on the same day, a convoy of FC was ambushed in Gore Dange area of Guryum in North Waziristan district, which resulted in the killing of 2 soldiers and complete destruction of one vehicle.
TTP militants also clashed with the police in Diamer in Gilgit-Baltistan, which resulted in the killing of 4 policemen and injuries to 3 others, including a DSP, the spokesman said.
Two vehicles were also destroyed, he said. (NVI)
