12 Soldiers Killed In Ambush By Pakistan Taliban In South Waziristan

<p>At least 12 Pakistani soldiers were killed and four others injured in a brutal ambush by the Pakistani Taliban in northwest Pakistan early Saturday, local officials confirmed to AFP.</p>
<p>The attack highlights a worrying resurgence of militancy in Pakistan&rsquo;s border regions with Afghanistan, which have seen increasing unrest since the Afghan Taliban returned to power in Kabul in 2021.</p>
<p>According to a local government official, the military convoy was traveling through a town in South Waziristan district around 4:00 a.m. when &ldquo;armed men opened fire from both sides with heavy weapons.&rdquo; A security officer in the area confirmed the death toll and said the attackers had also seized weapons from the convoy.</p>
<p>The Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), a militant group closely linked to, but distinct from, the Afghan Taliban, claimed responsibility for the assault in a message circulated on social media.</p>
<p>This marks one of the deadliest attacks in months in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, a region where the TTP once controlled significant territory before being pushed back by a military operation that began in 2014.</p>
<p>Pakistan&rsquo;s government has repeatedly accused neighboring Afghanistan of harboring militants who launch cross-border attacks. Kabul denies the allegations.</p>
<p>Recent weeks have seen residents across several districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa report graffiti bearing the TTP&rsquo;s name on walls and buildings, stoking fears of a return to the group&rsquo;s former reign during the height of the U.S.-led &ldquo;War on Terror.&rdquo; A senior local government official told AFP that both the number of TTP fighters and the frequency of attacks in the region have risen.</p>
<p>Since the start of this year, nearly 460 people&mdash;mostly members of Pakistan&rsquo;s security forces&mdash;have been killed in attacks by armed groups targeting the state in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan, according to AFP&rsquo;s tally.</p>
<p>Last year, Pakistan experienced its deadliest year in nearly a decade, with more than 1,600 fatalities, nearly half of them soldiers and police officers, the Islamabad-based Center for Research and Security Studies reported.</p>