India on Sunday strongly rejected Pakistan Army's accusation of India's role in a fatal suicide attack in Pakistan's Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province as "absurd and baseless". At least 13 Pakistani troops were killed and more than two dozen individuals, including civilians, were wounded when a suicide bomber drove an explosive-packed vehicle into a military convoy on Saturday in North Waziristan. The attack, one of the deadliest in recent months, was reportedly claimed by the suicide bomber wing of the Hafiz Gul Bahadur group, a faction linked with the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP).

In a sharp response, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) dismissed Pakistan’s allegations outright. “We have seen an official statement by the Pakistan Army seeking to blame India for the attack in Waziristan on June 28. We reject this statement with the contempt it deserves,” MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said in an official post on X (formerly Twitter).

Violence Rises In Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Amid Taliban-TTP Tensions

North Waziristan, bordering Afghanistan, has seen an intense rise in militant attacks after the Taliban recaptured Kabul in 2021. Pakistan has repeatedly held the Taliban government responsible for providing space to anti-Pakistan militant groups from Afghan territory, something the Taliban dispute. In March, the TTP declared a "spring offensive" against Pakistani security personnel, warning of ambushes, targeted killings, and suicide bombings. The group has claimed responsibility for approximately 100 attacks in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa since then. According to official tallies, nearly 290 people, mostly security personnel, have been killed in attacks in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan so far this year.

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Pakistan's Leadership Condemns Attack

Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif called the Waziristan attack a "cowardly act," while Army Chief General Asim Munir promised immediate revenge on those destabilizing the nation. But Islamabad's constant allegations of "foreign involvement" without concrete proof have again invited strong criticism from New Delhi, which maintains that Pakistan should instead undertake to dismantle terror outfits operating from Pakistani soil.

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The assault also destroyed civilian homes in the region. Regional police authorities indicated the explosion blew away the roofs of two residential houses, leaving at least six children injured. The explosive tribal regions along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border remain under the onslaught of rebel attacks, fueling concerns about regional security and stability.

With agency inputs.