ISLAMABAD – Pakistan says a militant attack Wednesday from across the Afghanistan border killed at least four paramilitary soldiers and injured six others.
The military said a team of paramilitary forces was moving to install a border fence in the southern Zhob district in Baluchistan province when what they described as “terrorists” from the Afghan side ambushed and opened fire at them.
The troops “responded promptly” and the injured personnel were evacuated to a military hospital in the provincial capital, Quetta.
The military provided no further details and no one immediately claimed responsibility for the attack.
Militants have previously attacked construction teams since Pakistan began fencing the nearly 2,600 kilometer largely porous border with Afghanistan in mid-2017.
The military-led massive construction program is installing a pair of nearly 3-meter-high chicken wire fences, with a 2-meter gap between each one, and topped with barbed wire. Additionally, hundreds of new outposts and forts have been built or are under construction.
Army officials say the project is expected to be completed in the next few months, costing around $500 million. The fence runs through rugged terrain and snow-capped mountains as high as 12,000 feet.
Pakistani officials maintain the border management program will help address mutual concerns of terrorist infiltration, a major source of tensions between Islamabad and Kabul.