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Three Pakistani soldiers were killed in an ambush on September 23 in the Peshawar city of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, for which the Islamic State has claimed a joint reponsibilty with another Pakistani Talibani faction, Jamaatul Ahrar.
The Pakistan army often uses unmarked vehicles for transportation of soldiers and other employees in volatile areas around Peshawar to avoid being identified and attacked.Senior police officer Shaukat Khan said the gunmen struck at Garhi Sohbat Khan located in the outskirts of Peshawar, where a private vehicle carrying three soldiers were attacked, reports the New York Times.
Jamaatul Ahrar spokesman said in a statement that the three soldiers were targeted by the group to avenge the "military's animosity against the mosques."
Islamic militants have been involved in multiple attacks in the surrounding tribal areas of Peshawar.
The Mohmand tribal region has been a hotbed of miltiant acitivity since a long time, where the Pakistani army has carried out several operations to eliminate militant hideouts. The militants have, however, repeatedly struck back on many oaccasions.
Jamaat-ur-Ahrar had also sworn its fealty to the Islamic State's leadership in the Middle East once, but later it switched back to the Taliban.
Earlier both groups had claimed responsibility for another attack in Quetta, where a suicide bombing targetting a hospital had killed 74 people in August.
