India on Sunday strongly rejected the Pakistan Army’s accusation that it was involved in a deadly suicide bombing in North Waziristan that killed 13 Pakistani soldiers. The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) called the allegation baseless and contemptible.

“We have seen an official statement by the Pakistan Army seeking to blame India for the attack in Waziristan on June 28. We reject this statement with the contempt it deserves,” MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said on X (formerly Twitter).

The suicide attack occurred early Saturday in the Khadi area of North Waziristan, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province. Pakistani media reported that a suicide bomber rammed an explosives-laden vehicle into a military Bomb Disposal Unit vehicle. The powerful explosion killed 13 soldiers and injured 29 others, including 19 civilians. Additional reports suggested that indiscriminate firing in the aftermath also caused civilian injuries, including to women and children.

Responsibility for the attack was claimed by the Usud al-Harab group, a sub-faction of the Hafiz Gul Bahadur network affiliated with the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP). The blast has been described as one of the deadliest in North Waziristan in recent months.

The attack came days after a separate intelligence-based operation in South Waziristan, where two Pakistani soldiers were killed and 11 militants were reported eliminated.

India’s response marks a firm dismissal of Pakistan’s attempt to link New Delhi to its internal security issues. The MEA reiterated that such politically motivated claims divert attention from Pakistan’s own domestic challenges and the growing threat posed by terror outfits operating from its soil.

The region has witnessed a rise in extremist violence, with previous attacks targeting both military and civilian infrastructure, particularly in Balochistan and tribal areas bordering Afghanistan.