8 soldiers killed, 7 police officers kidnapped in Pakistan: police

Eight soldiers were killed and seven police officers kidnapped in separate attacks in northwestern Pakistan, police and intelligence officials told AFP on Tuesday.

A clash on Monday resulted in the death of “eight soldiers” and “nine militants” in the Tirah area of ​​Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province, an intelligence officer said on condition of anonymity.

The Pakistani Taliban (TTP) claimed responsibility.

In a separate attack in the province, “seven police officers were kidnapped” at a checkpoint, a senior police official said, also speaking anonymously.

“The attackers also seized the weapons belonging to the officials,” he added.

Another police official, Muhammad Zia ud-Din, confirmed the incident.

Pakistan has seen an increase in TTP attacks on its border with Afghanistan.

The group killed ten police officers on October 25.

Elsewhere in the country of 240 million people, Islamist or separatist attacks on Pakistani security forces are taking place.

Seven soldiers were killed by separatists in Pakistan’s southwestern Balochistan province on Saturday, a week after a bombing by the same group killed 26 people, including 14 soldiers, at a train station in the provincial capital.

Disclaimer: This story has been published from a news agency feed with minimal editing to comply with WION’s style guide. The headline may have been changed to better reflect the content of the story or to make it more suitable for the WION audience.