Eight militants were killed earlier today in the latest clashes between the Pakistani Taliban and a breakaway faction in the country’s restive northwest, officials said.
The fighting erupted in the Wacha Mela area 65 kilometres (40 miles) west of Miranshah, the capital of North Waziristan tribal district.
A total of 106 militants have been killed since supporters of commander Khalid Mehsud, alias Khan Said Sajna, began battling followers of the slain former Taliban chief Hakimullah Mehsud in April.
Khalid Mehsud’s group last month split from the umbrella Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), a move which analysts described as a victory for the Pakistani military’s strategy of sowing divisions between insurgent factions.
The latest fighting left eight militants dead and three wounded, a local intelligence official told the media on condition of anonymity.
“Six of the dead militants belonged to the Hakimullah group,” he said.
Another security official and a militant source confirmed the fighting and casualties.
