The Pakistani Taliban today claimed responsibility for an attack on a military convoy near this northwestern city in which six soldiers were killed, saying it was carried out in retaliation for the killing of its deputy chief in a US drone strike.
Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan spokesman Ihsanullah Ihsan said the convoy was attacked to avenge the killing of the commander Waliur Rehman in a drone strike on May 29.
Ihsan claimed that Pakistani authorities are providing "around 80 per cent of the intelligence and ground information to facilitate drone attacks".
For this reason, the Taliban will continue targeting security forces, he said.
Six soldiers were killed and two more injured when an army patrol was attacked by Taliban fighters near Sara Khwara on the outskirts of Peshawar last night.
The army patrol consisting of three vehicles were targeted with rocket-propelled grenades.
Two vehicles were destroyed while the driver of the third vehicle drove to a nearby police post.
Areas on the outskirts of Peshawar have recently witnessed a spike in violent attacks, giving rise to fears that Taliban fighters have sneaked back into the region despite several operations to flush them out.
