Six soldiers, including an officer, and as many terrorists were killed in a gunfight in Pakistan’s restive Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, the military said on Saturday.

In a statement, the military’s media wing Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) said the exchange of fire took place on the night between October 4-5 at Spinwam area in North Waziristan district, bordering Afghanistan, during which six soldiers, including a Lieutenant Colonel, and “six Khwarij” were killed. During the “intense fire exchange”, 43-year-old Lieutenant Colonel Muhammad Ali Shoukat, who was leading the operation against the terrorists, was killed along with five other soldiers, the statement said. Meanwhile, the banned Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) has claimed responsibility for the attack.

The TTP was set up as an umbrella group of several militant outfits in 2007. Pakistan has officially declared TTP as ‘Fitna al-Khawarij’ and the notification by the Interior Ministry emphasises the use of the term ‘khariji’ (outlawed) along with the names of such terrorists.

The Pakistani government has repeatedly accused the TTP of operating from sanctuaries in Afghanistan, a claim denied by the Afghan Taliban.

There has been an uptick in the incidents of terrorism in Pakistan since the Taliban took over the government in Kabul in 2021, dashing hopes in Islamabad that a friendly government in Afghanistan would help to tackle militancy. Relations between the two countries have lately become strained, largely because of the TTP but also due to frequent border skirmishes.