(MENAFN- Arab Times) Pakistan militants who have pledged allegiance to Islamic State said on Sunday they had attacked a paramilitary checkpoint along the Afghan border, in the first such assault claimed by a former faction of the Taleban in several months. A militant affiliated with the faction told Reuters the group attacked Damadola district of the Bajaur tribal area in Pakistan's northwest, where the military has been battling a militant insurgency since 2007, late on Saturday. "Our men destroyed the post, set it on fire and left it after our operation was complete," he said by telephone.
Two Pakistani intelligence officials confirmed a checkpoint had been attacked, but there were no casualties. The Pakistani government says that Islamic State, a group founded in Syria and Iraq in 2013, does not have a credible presence in the country.
Several smaller militant groups and factions of the Pakistani Taleban have, however, pledged allegiance to Islamic State and its leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi since last year. So far, Islamic State has not formally accepted any of those pledges, nor has its central leadership claimed responsibility for any attacks carried out in Pakistan.
On Sunday, at least 12 militants were killed after military jets bombed the Mana area of Shawal Valley in northwest Pakistan, two security officials said. The deeply forested valley is a key Taleban stronghold and a main smuggling route into Afghanistan. The Shawal Valley is still dotted with Taleban bases and foreign fighters more than a year after the military announced an offensive to clear the Taleban from the North Waziristan region along the Afghan border.
Meanwhile, the Afghan Taleban's new leader is wooing powerful figures from the militant movement based in the Middle East who have not yet publicly pledged their support, sources within the group say, as he attempts to stifle a brewing challenge to his position. A battle for the top job could worsen violence in Afghanistan by triggering Taleban-on-Taleban fighting and in turn doom fledgling peace talks between the Afghan government and the insurgency.
It could also make it easier for Islamic State to expand its influence in one of the world's most unstable regions. Mullah Mansour was hastily appointed leader of the Taleban, the Islamist insurgency fighting to overthrow the Afghan government, in July after the Afghan spy agency leaked the death of Mullah Omar, founder of the movement.
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