Pakistan’s Taliban on Tuesday accused the military of breaking a fragile ceasefire after the army said five soldiers and at least four militants died in a firefight in the country’s northwest.
Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) declared an indefinite ceasefire in June to facilitate peace talks brokered by neighboring Afghanistan, but clashes have erupted regularly since, although both sides said the ceasefire was still in place.
In the latest clash on Monday, the Pakistani military said they raided a militant hideout in Boyya, North Waziristan, following an intelligence tip.
“An intense exchange of fire took place between friendly forces and terrorists,” the military’s public relations department said in a statement.
It said four militants had been killed and five soldiers, including an officer, “embraced martyrdom”.
On Tuesday, a TTP commander confirmed the clash and accused the government of bad faith, saying troops had recently attacked them in six districts including Peshawar, the capital of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province.
“The government has failed in its commitment to the ceasefire,” the commander told AFP.
A government official involved in negotiations with the group accused them of “targeted killings” and “intensifying their movements” in parts of the country.
Since the Taliban returned to power in Afghanistan last year, Islamabad has regularly complained of TTP attacks, particularly along its porous border.
The Pakistani and Afghan Taliban are separate groups but share a common ideology.
Afghanistan insists it will not allow its soil to be used by foreign militants, but hundreds of Pakistani Taliban fighters, as well as much of the group’s leadership, are believed to be in the country.
On Tuesday, the Pakistani military celebrated Defense Day, honoring those who died in the 1965 war with India.