Middle East
Militants gun down Pakistani soldier near Afghan border
The Associated Press
December 26, 2021
In this Aug. 3, 2021 file photo, Pakistan Army troops observe the area from hilltop post on the Pakistan-Afghanistan border, in Khyber district, Pakistan. Militants targeted an army post in Pakistan’s northwestern tribal belt near the Afghan border, killing a soldier in a firefight overnight, Pakistan’s military said. (Anjum Naveed/AP )
ISLAMABAD — Militants targeted an army post in Pakistan's northwestern tribal belt near the Afghan border, killing a soldier in a firefight overnight, Pakistan's military said.
The attack took place in the Shewa area of the district of North Waziristan in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, the army said in a statement Saturday. No group immediately claimed responsibility for the attack.
The military said that during an intense exchange of gunfire a soldier was killed. It said a search of the area was being carried out to find the militants. No additional details were released.
North Waziristan served as a militant stronghold for decades. The military carried out a full-fledged offensive in the region after an army run school was attacked in December 2014 in the provincial capital of Peshawar. The attack killed more than 150 people, mostly schoolchildren.