India REJECTS Pakistan's accusation of Waziristan attack - Here's what it said

India's External Affairs Ministry on Saturday night (June 29) issued a statement, rejecting allegations of India's involvement in the Waziristan attack on June 28. The ministry issued a statement rejecting the blame.

"We have seen an official statement by the Pakistan Army seeking to blame India for the attack in Waziristan on 28 June," the statement read.

India's External Affairs Ministry Spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal stated, "We reject this statement with the contempt it deserves."

On Saturday, a suicide bomb attack in Pakistan's North Waziristan district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province killed 13 troops and injured 10 others, along with 19 civilians, according to a local government official.

According to local government officials, a suicide bomber drove an explosive-laden vehicle into a military convoy before the blast happened, news agency AFP reported. The explosion also damaged multiple nearby houses.

“The explosion also caused the roofs of two houses to collapse, injuring six children,” a police officer posted in the district told AFP.

The attack was claimed by the suicide bomber wing of the Hafiz Gul Bahadur armed group, a faction of the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP). Notably, the region has seen frequent unrest and attacks by the TTP.

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The blast came amid a surge in militant attacks across Pakistan, especially in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan. Earlier in March, the TTP announced a “spring campaign" against security forces, threatening “ambushes, targeted attacks, suicide attacks and strikes".

Last year was notably the deadliest year for Pakistan in almost a decade, with more than 1600 people killed in the attacks, nearly half of them security forces personnel.