PESHAWAR, Pakistan (AP) — Militants killed six Pakistani soldiers during a shootout in the northwest, the army said Saturday. It’s the latest unrest in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, which borders Afghanistan and is a base for armed groups including the Pakistani Taliban.
The troops died in an overnight operation in North Waziristan on Saturday, according to an army statement. The statement also said six militants were killed.
The army said a separate operation killed two militants in Swat, also in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. One of them was said to be involved in an attack on a convoy of foreign ambassadors in the area earlier this month.
Also Saturday, cellphone services remained suspended in Islamabad as it entered a second day of a lockdown aimed at thwarting rallies in support of ex-leader Imran Khan. He is in prison on multiple charges.
Shipping containers have blocked off the city’s entry and exit points, but videos from Khan’s political party showed his supporters piled into vehicles and attempting to head toward Islamabad.
The chief minister of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Ali Amin Gandapur, and others in the convoy worked throughout the night to remove shipping containers from the road, the party said.
Khan’s PTI party said it plans to hold a rally in Lahore.
