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ConflictsPakistan

Pakistan army says 8 militants killed in restive northwest

September 26, 2024

The Pakistani military says eight militants have been killed in a raid on a former bastion of the Pakistani Taliban. The group is allied with the Taliban rulers in neighboring Afghanistan.

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Pakistani soldier with gun pointing through a hole in a wall
A Pakistani soldier at the border with AfghanistanImage: Aamir Qureshi/AFP

The Pakistani armed forces said on Thursday they had sent eight militants "to hell" during a raid overnight in North Waziristan, a district in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province bordering Afghanistan.

In its statement, the military provided no details about the affiliation of the killed militants, but such operations often target the Pakistan Taliban, also known as Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan or TTP.

What did the military say of the raid?

The statement said weapons and ammunition were also seized after a violent shootout.

It said the militants were "involved in terrorist activities against security forces" as well as the killing of innocent civilians.

Pakistani-Afghan tensions rise over border attacks

North Waziristan used to be a base for TTP and foreign militants. A series of operations by security forces in recent years have, however, driven them from the area.  

The TTP are separate from but close to the Afghan Taliban, who seized power in neighboring Afghanistan in 2021. The Pakistani group has been encouraged by the Taliban takeover in Kabul to continue its militant operations.

tj/rm (AP, DW)