Waziristan Blast: Pakistan Army Points Finger At India, Gets A Stinging Rebuttal From MEA

The Ministry of External Affairs on Sunday (29 June) issued a firm denial of the Pakistan Army’s claim that India was behind the suicide bombing in Waziristan on Saturday (28 June) that left 13 Pak soldiers dead, NDTV reported.

"We have seen an official statement by the Pakistan Army seeking to blame India for the attack on Waziristan on 28 June. We reject this statement with the contempt it deserves," MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said in a statement on X.

The attack took place on Saturday in North Waziristan, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, where a suicide bomber drove an explosives-laden vehicle into a Pakistani military convoy.

The Pakistani military's Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), as reported by The Dawn, attributed the attack to a group called Fitna-al-Khawarij.

"A suicide bomber rammed an explosive-laden vehicle into a military convoy. The blast killed 13 soldiers, injured 10 army personnel and 19 civilians," a local government official in North Waziristan district was quoted as saying by AFP.

According to The Dawn, the attack came just days after two soldiers died and 12 terrorists were killed in an intelligence-based operation in South Waziristan.

No group has formally claimed responsibility for the suicide attack so far.

Pakistan has witnessed a sharp rise in violence in its regions bordering Afghanistan since the Taliban returned to power in Kabul in 2021, with Islamabad accusing its western neighbour of allowing its soil to be used for attacks against Pakistan - a claim the Taliban denies.

Around 290 people, mostly security officials, have reportedly been killed in attacks since the start of the year by armed groups fighting the government in both Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan.

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