Peshawar, Apr 28 (AP) Militants targeted Pakistani security forces in three overnight attacks in the country's volatile northwest, triggering shootouts that killed three soldiers and seven militants, the military said on Friday.

The near-simultaneous attacks late on Thursday night in Lakki Marwat, a district in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province bordering Afghanistan, lasted several hours.

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A military statement said the attackers were repulsed but that three soldiers “embraced martyrdom” while responding to the attacks.

In one of the attacks, a suicide bomber riding on a motorcycle blew himself up near a compound housing security forces.

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The military said troops were still searching the area for the militants who escaped following the attacks.

There was no claim of responsibility for the attacks but suspicion is likely to fall on the Pakistani Taliban who have been behind past attacks in the region and have a strong presence in the province.

The militants, known as Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan, or TTP, are a separate group but allied with the Afghan Taliban, who seized power in the neighbouring country in August 2021 as US and NATO troops were in the final stages of their pullout.

The Taliban takeover of Afghanistan has emboldened the Pakistani Taliban, who have stepped up attacks in recent months. (AP)

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)