Four soldiers and two schoolchildren killed in attacks in northwest Pakistan | News about armed groups

A roadside bomb kills four officers and wounds five others, while two schoolchildren are killed in a mortar explosion.

A roadside bomb exploded near a vehicle carrying security forces in northwestern Pakistan, killing four officers and wounding five others, officials said.

The roadside bombing occurred in South Waziristan district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, local police officer Dilawar Khan said on Thursday.

No one immediately claimed responsibility for the attack, but the armed group Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), also known as the Pakistan Taliban, has increased its attacks in the region since its ally, the Afghan Taliban, seized power in neighboring Afghanistan took over in 2021.

The Pakistani military acknowledged the “martyrdom” of four officers in a statement on Thursday, but said security forces also responded to the attack, killing five “Khwarij,” a term the military uses for the Pakistani Taliban.

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif expressed “sadness and concern” over the killing of the soldiers and said: “Our war against terrorists will continue until terrorism is completely eliminated from the country.”

Also on Thursday, a mortar fired by armed militants landed near a road in Tirah Valley in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, killing two schoolchildren who were walking to school, police said.

For years, Pakistani Taliban fighters have been attacking the country and its forces in an attempt to overthrow the government and replace it with their interpretation of a strict Islamic system. Attacks have increased since last year after the country revoked a ceasefire with the government after accusing them of violating a ceasefire.

Islamabad has also accused Kabul's rulers of failing to root out rebels who have carried out attacks on Pakistan from across the border.

Last month, 10 Pakistani police officers were killed in an attack on a security checkpoint. The Pakistani Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack.

According to a report by the Islamabad-based Pakistan Institute for Conflict and Security Studies, there were 785 armed attacks in Pakistan in the first ten months of 2024, leaving 951 people dead and 966 injured, reflecting continued high levels of violence in the country think tank throughout the country.

Meanwhile, Pakistan's Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi met Chinese Ambassador Jiang Zaidong in Islamabad on Thursday to brief him on the investigation into an attack on Tuesday in which a security guard shot and injured two Chinese nationals at a garment factory in Karachi, allegedly over a private matter disputes.

China has frequently called for better security for its nationals staying in Pakistan to work on Beijing's multibillion-dollar Belt and Road Initiative. An unknown number of Chinese also work in factories in the country.