Four Pakistani soldiers and four attackers were killed when a suicide vehicle bomber and three gunmen assaulted a military post in North Waziristan, according to Pakistan's military and local police. At least 15 civilians, including women and children, were wounded.
The attackers first tried to cross the post's perimeter near a village in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province but were pushed back, the military said. An explosives-laden vehicle was then driven into the outer wall, setting off a powerful blast before an hourlong exchange of gunfire. Troops killed all four assailants during the fighting.
Police said the explosion caused nearby homes to collapse. The military said houses and a mosque were damaged, accounting for civilian casualties beyond the military site. Security forces sealed the area and began a clearance operation, while rescue teams, medical workers and bomb-disposal personnel were sent to the scene. Traffic on a key road was temporarily halted and security was tightened across the district.
Early accounts differed on some details. Amu Television, citing Pakistani media and police, initially reported that four security personnel had been wounded and that the attackers may have used either a vehicle bomb or a suicide vest. The later Associated Press account, based on military and police statements, reported four soldiers killed and identified the explosive device as a vehicle bomb. Both accounts said four militants died.
No organization immediately claimed responsibility. Pakistan's military blamed the Pakistani Taliban, formally known as Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan, and alleged that the operation had been planned and directed from Afghanistan. The supplied evidence did not independently verify either allegation.
Afghanistan's Taliban government has repeatedly denied allowing its territory to be used for attacks against Pakistan or other countries. The Pakistani Taliban is organizationally separate from the Afghan Taliban but is closely allied with it.
Hours after the North Waziristan assault, Pakistan's Foreign Ministry summoned the deputy head of Afghanistan's mission in Islamabad. The ministry demanded an investigation and action against those it said were responsible for facilitating attacks from Afghan territory. It also said Pakistan reserved the right to defend its sovereignty and protect its citizens. Kabul did not immediately comment on the specific assault.
The demand and Kabul's standing denial showed how the immediate security response was becoming entwined with a wider dispute over cross-border militancy.
North Waziristan, which borders Afghanistan, was previously a major base for the Pakistani Taliban and other armed groups. The incident added pressure to already strained relations between Islamabad and Kabul following border clashes in October and inconclusive talks after a Qatar-brokered ceasefire.
