Police in Pakistan say gunmen on motorcycles have killed three soldiers on the outskirts of the country’s northwestern city of Peshawar, the capital of northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province.

The soldiers were traveling in a van when the gunmen struck Sunday.

Jamaatul Ahrar (JuA), a breakaway faction of the Taliban, has claimed responsibility for the attack.

Islamic militants have been involved in similar attacks in the area, which is close to Mohmand Agency, one of the seven semiautonomous Pakistani districts on the Afghan border.  

On Friday, a suicide blast ripped through a crowded mosque in the Mohmand Agency, killing at least 23 people and wounding dozens of others.

JuA claimed responsibility for Friday’s attack, saying the bomber targeted the mosque because members of a pro-government tribal militia, named the Peace Committee, were among the worshippers.

Last month, the United States designated JuA a global terrorist organization, saying the group has staged multiple attacks on civilians, religious minorities, military personnel and law enforcement, and was responsible for the killing of two Pakistani employees of the U.S. consulate in Peshawar in early March.

Pakistani officials allege the terrorist group operates out of Afghan border areas and receives support from the intelligence agency of the neighboring country, charges Kabul denies.

Militants linked to the Pakistani Taliban and JuA have killed tens of thousands of people over the past decade in suicide and other terrorist attacks across Pakistan.
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