Five Pakistani soldiers were killed on Sunday as a result of a detonation of an improvised explosive device (IED) in the country's southwestern Balochistan province, the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) of the Pakistani armed forces announced.

In a statement, the ISPR confirmed that "an IED exploded close to the leading party. Resultantly, Captain Fahad along with four other brave sons of soil Lance Naik Imtiaz, Sepoy Asghar, Sepoy Mehran and Sepoy Shamoon have embraced Shahadat, laying their lives in defence of the motherland against an externally perpetrated threat of terrorism."

🇵🇰 : Based on credible intelligence, a clearance Operation is underway in the Kahan area of #Balochistan since 24th Dec - ISPR

Today, an IED exploded close to the leading party. Resultantly, Captain Fahad along with 4 other Lance Naik Imtiaz, Sepoy Asghar#Pakistan pic.twitter.com/wnxY8aMP2d

— Zaid Ahmd  (@realzaidzayn) December 25, 2022

According to the statement, the explosion occurred in the Kahan area of Balochistan, where a counterterrorism operation has been taking place since Saturday.

It added that an operation to apprehend the perpetrators was underway. No side has claimed responsibility for the deadly attack yet.

Earlier, a soldier and a terrorist were killed and two other soldiers were injured during an exchange of fire between militants and security forces who carried out an operation in the Sambaza area of Balochistan’s Zhob district.

According to the ISPR, the objective of the operation was to "deny terrorists the use of few suspected routes to move across the Pakistan-Afghanistan border to sneak into KP (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa) along the interprovincial boundary and target citizens and security forces."

It is noteworthy that in late November, the Taliban in Pakistan, also known as Tehreek-e Taliban Pakistan (TTP), called off a ceasefire in place since June after the group reached a deal with the government, directing its fighters to carry out attacks across the country.

The TTP is a separate entity from the Taliban in Afghanistan that shares a similar ideology with the group. It has claimed responsibility for dozens of attacks that have been ripping through Pakistan since the group's emersion in 2007.

The group's fighters have been mostly forced out of Pakistan into neighboring Afghanistan. They have been pouring into the country since 2010, though they have seen a bolstering of their status in light of the Taliban's return to power in Afghanistan late last year, following the hasty US withdrawal from the country.

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