ISLAMABAD (AP) — A suicide car bomber and three gunmen attacked a military post near a village in northwest Pakistan on Friday, triggering an hourlong gunbattle that killed four soldiers and wounded at least 15 civilians, including women and children, authorities said.
The attack took place in North Waziristan, a former stronghold of the Pakistani Taliban and other militant groups in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province bordering Afghanistan, according to the Pakistani military and local police.
Police said the blast caused nearby homes to collapse, injuring civilians.
The military in a statement said all the attackers were killed by troops during the fighting. No group immediately claimed responsibility, but the military blamed the Pakistani Taliban for the assault.
It said the attackers initially tried to breach the post’s perimeter but were repelled. The militants then rammed an explosives-laden vehicle into the outer wall, it said.
The impact of the bombing damaged nearby homes and a mosque, it said.
The military said the attack was planned and directed from across the border in Afghanistan. There was no immediate comment from Kabul, which for years has insisted that it does not allow anyone to use Afghan soil to launch attacks against any country, including Pakistan.
The military said Pakistan expects Afghanistan’s Taliban rulers to prevent militants from using Afghan territory to launch attacks on Pakistan.
It added that Pakistan reserves the right to pursue militants and their facilitators.
Hours after the attack in North Waziristan, Pakistan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said it summoned the Afghan Taliban’s deputy head of mission in Islamabad to lodge a formal protest.
In a statement, the ministry said “Pakistan has demanded a full investigation and decisive action against the perpetrators and facilitators of the terrorist attacks launched against Pakistan from Afghan soil.”
It said the “Afghan Taliban regime has been urged to take immediate, concrete and verifiable measures against all terror groups operating from its territory, including their leadership, and deny the continued use of Afghan soil for terrorism against Pakistan”.
The “Afghan Taliban regime has also been categorically informed that Pakistan reserves the right to defend its sovereignty and protect its citizens, and will take all necessary measures to respond to terrorism originating from Afghan soil,” the ministry said.
Pakistan often accuses Afghanistan’s Taliban rulers of harboring the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan, a militant group responsible for a surge in attacks inside Pakistan since 2021. Kabul denies the charge, saying it does not allow its territory to be used against other countries.
Although separate from Afghanistan’s Taliban, the TTP is closely allied with it.
Tensions between Pakistan and Afghanistan have risen since October, when border clashes erupted after explosions in Kabul on Oct. 9 that Afghanistan blamed on Pakistan. Although Qatar later brokered a ceasefire, the two sides failed to reach an agreement during subsequent talks hosted by Turkey in November.