High-ranking Pakistani spy official killed, 7 injured in clash with militants

A Pakistani intelligence official was killed and seven of his team members were injured in an encounter with militants in northwestern Pakistan on Tuesday, the country’s military said.

The region has seen a resurgence of Islamist militant attacks since late last year, including a deadly bombing of a mosque in the city of Peshawar that killed over 100 people, mostly policemen.

Brigadier Mustafa Kamal Barki of the Inter Services Intelligence, the country’s main spy agency, was killed in an encounter in South Waziristan, a mountainous region that borders Afghanistan and has long been a hotbed of Islamist militants.

The military’s media wing, the Inter Services Public Relations Pakistan, said in a statement that intense firing was exchanged with militants and two of Barki’s team members were in critical condition.

No group has claimed responsibility.

Most attacks in the region have been claimed by Islamist militant group Tehreek-e-Taliban, which pledges loyalty to but is separate from the Taliban ruling neighbouring Afghanistan. Its stated aim is to impose their brand of Sharia law in the country.