Pakistan army kills 30 militants trying to cross border from Afghanistan

ISLAMABAD - Pakistan’s army said on July 4 it had killed 30 militants attempting to cross the border from Afghanistan over the last three days, after a suicide attack killed 16 soldiers in the same region.

The militants belonged to the Pakistan Taliban or its affiliated groups, the military said in a statement accusing arch-foe India of backing them.

“The security forces demonstrated exceptional professionalism, vigilance preparedness and prevented a potential catastrophe,” it said.

“A large quantity of weapons, ammunition and explosives was recovered,” the statement added.

The killings took place in the border district of North Waziristan, where last week a faction of the Pakistan Taliban claimed a

suicide blast on the military

.

Islamabad has routinely blamed its western neighbour Afghanistan for allowing militant groups to operate on its soil, but in recent months, it has ramped up accusations against India to its east for backing the groups.

Both neighbours deny any involvement.

Nuclear-armed India and Pakistan

traded the worst violence in decades

during a four-day conflict in May that killed 70 people on both sides.

It was triggered by New Delhi’s accusation that Islamabad supported gunmen

killing 26 people on April 22

, the worst attack on civilians in the contested Kashmir region in years.

Islamabad has denied any involvement.

Since their independence from British rule, India and Pakistan have frequently fought over Kashmir, a divided region claimed in full by both sides.

Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on July 4 lauded the security forces for “thwarting an infiltration attempt”.

“We are determined to completely eliminate all forms of terrorism from the country,” his office said.

His statement also accused New Delhi of fomenting militancy in Pakistan.

Violence has surged in Pakistan’s border regions since the

Taliban’s 2021 return to power,

and last year was the deadliest in a decade.

The Pakistan Taliban, a separate group from the Afghan Taliban but with a shared ideology, is active around the north-west border with Afghanistan. AFP