Pakistani officials say Taliban militants have attacked a security checkpoint, killing four members of a paramilitary force.
The attack took place on Sunday (March 9) in the Kurram district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
A police official, speaking on condition of anonymity, told AFP that the attackers were “heavily armed.” “At least four security personnel were martyred and seven others were injured,” the official said.
The attack comes amid a recent surge in attacks in the province.
Last week, two suicide bombers from the Pakistani Taliban blew themselves up in a car packed with explosives near an army base in Bannu. Officials said seven soldiers and 13 civilians were killed in the attack.
Earlier, on February 28, a blast took place at the Haqqani Madrasa mosque in Akori, Nowshera, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, killing seven people, including the head of the Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (S) and the deputy head of the madrasa, Maulana Hamidul Haq Haqqani, and injuring several others.
The Center for Research and Security Studies in Islamabad says that the past 24 years have been bloody for Pakistan.
According to the center, 1,600 people were killed in various attacks last year.
The Pakistani Taliban, Baloch separatists, and the Islamic State group have claimed responsibility for most of the attacks.
Pakistani officials claim that the Afghan Taliban have provided shelter to militants in Afghanistan and that they are organizing attacks in Pakistan.
However, the Afghan Taliban government denies this claim and says that it does not allow anyone to use Afghan soil against others.
