Islamabad, Jun. 10, (dpa/GNA) – At least seven Pakistani soldiers were killed in the country’s volatile province bordering Afghanistan, amid a surge in terrorist attacks, the military said on Sunday.

The soldiers were killed in Lakki Marwat district of Khyber Pakthunkhwa province when “an improvised explosive device exploded on a vehicle of the security forces,” the military’s media wing ISPR said in a statement.

“Security forces of Pakistan are determined to eliminate the menace of terrorism, and such sacrifices of our brave soldiers further strengthen our resolve,” the military said.

No group has claimed responsibility for the attack, so far.

Pakistan has seen an increase in attacks by the Pakistani Taliban since their Afghan counterparts seized power in Afghanistan in 2021.

Last month, the Pakistani authorities asked the Afghan interim government to take action against the militant group Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), or the Pakistani Taliban, for a recent spate of terrorist attacks including the car bombing that killed five Chinese engineers in March.

The Pakistani Taliban – separate from the group now in power in Afghanistan – have killed a total of about 80,000 Pakistanis in decades of violence.

They were pushed back in a series of offensives since 2014, but have been seeking to regroup in Afghanistan since the fall of Kabul to the Afghan Taliban.

GNA