KARACHI: Pakistani security forces have killed 23 Pakistani Taliban militants in separate operations in the northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) province, the military said on Thursday, amid an uptick in attacks in the South Asian country.
The operations were conducted in KP’s Kurram district on reports about the presence of members of the Pakistani Taliban, or the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), which has stepped up its attacks against security forces in recent years.
Pakistani forces effectively engaged the militants and killed 12 TTP members after an intense exchange of fire. Eleven other militants were killed in the same area, following intelligence reports about the presence of another group.
“Sanitization operations are being conducted to eliminate any other Indian-sponsored kharji (militant),” the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), the military’s media wing, said in a statement. “Security Forces and Law Enforcement Agencies of
Pakistan will continue at full pace to wipe out menace of foreign sponsored and supported terrorism from the country.”
