Terrorist attack in Pakistan's Khyber Pakhtunkhwa kills 16 soldiers

Terrorists launched a brazen overnight raid on an army post near the Afghan border, two intelligence officials said, killing 16 soldiers and critically wounding five more.

"Over 30 terrorists attacked an army post" in the Makeen area of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, one senior intelligence official told AFP on condition of anonymity.

"Sixteen soldiers were martyred and five were critically injured in the assault."

"The terrorists set fire to the wireless communication equipment, documents and other items present at the checkpoint," he said, before retreating from the two-hour assault which took place 40 kilometres from the Afghan border.

A second intelligence official also anonymously confirmed the same toll of dead and wounded.

Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) claimed responsibility for the attack.

The siege started after midnight and lasted about two hours as around 30 terrorists pummelled the mountainous outpost from three sides.

The terrorist group claimed to have seized a hoard of military gear including machine guns and a night vision device.

Pakistan's military has not yet stated the incident.

Pakistan has been battling a resurgence of terrorist violence in its western border regions since the Taliban's 2021 return to power in Afghanistan.

Islamabad accuses Kabul of failing to root out militants staging attacks on Pakistan from over the border.

Kabul has pledged to evict foreign militant groups from Afghan soil.

But a UN Security Council report in July estimated up to 6,500 TTP terrorists are based there and said "the Taliban do not conceive of TTP as a terrorist group".

The report said the Afghan Taliban show "ad hoc support to, and tolerance of, TTP operations, including the supplying of weapons and permission for training".

The spike in attacks has soured Islamabad-Kabul relations.