Pakistan says 27 militants killed in North Waziristan operations

Twenty-seven Pakistani Taliban militants were killed in multiple intelligence-based operations in Pakistan’s northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) province, the military said, amid a continued surge in militancy in the region.

KP, which borders Afghanistan, has experienced a rise in violence in recent months, with the Pakistani Taliban — or Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) — and other militant groups frequently targeting security convoys and checkpoints, Arab News reports.

According to the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), the military’s media wing, security forces engaged multiple TTP positions in North Waziristan district as part of ongoing intelligence-based operations.

“Following intense fierce exchanges of fire, in last seventy-two hours, twenty-seven khwarij (militants) belonging to Indian-sponsored Fitna-al-Khwarij (TTP) have been sent to hell,” the ISPR said in a statement.

It added that weapons and ammunition were recovered from the militants, who it said were involved in “numerous terrorist activities and target killing of innocent civilians.”

New Delhi did not immediately respond to the statement.

Dozens of militants, security personnel, police officers, and civilians have been killed in militant attacks and counter-insurgency operations in KP in recent months.

Islamabad has repeatedly accused India of backing militant groups and Afghanistan of allowing the use of its territory for cross-border attacks in Pakistan’s western border regions. New Delhi and Kabul have denied these allegations.

“Sanitization operations continue to eliminate holed up khwarij (militants) from these areas,” the ISPR said. “Security Forces and Law Enforcement Agencies of Pakistan will continue at full pace to wipe out the menace of foreign sponsored and supported terrorism from the country.”

By Vafa Guliyeva