ISLAMABAD: Pakistani security forces killed 10 militants during a sanitizing operation in the southwestern Zhob district, the military’s media wing said on Thursday, amid a surge in militant attacks across the country. 

Security forces gunned down eight Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) militants in Balochistan province’s Zhob district earlier on Tuesday, the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) said.

The forces further carried out a sanitization operation in the same district on Wednesday to hunt down the remaining TTP militants, the ISPR said. 

“During the conduct of operation, own forces tracked down khwarij on multiple routes and effectively engaged their locations,” the military’s media wing said.

“After an ensuing fire exchange, ten Indian-sponsored khwarij were sent to hell.”

Pakistan’s military and civilian government frequently use the term “khwarij” to describe the TTP. The army said weapons, ammunition and explosives were recovered from the slain militants who were involved in “terrorist” activities. 

The military said sanitization operations were being carried out in the area to locate other missing militants. 

The security operations take place as Pakistan witnesses a surge in militancy in its northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) and southwestern Balochistan provinces that border Afghanistan.

Islamabad accuses Afghanistan of allowing the use of its soil and India of backing militant groups for cross-border attacks against Pakistan. Kabul and New Delhi deny this.

Mineral-rich Balochistan has been the site of a low-lying insurgency for the past couple of years. Ethnic Baloch separatist militants accuse the state of depriving the local population of a share in the province’s resources. 

Islamabad denies the allegations and says the government is carrying out several development initiatives to uplift the local population in Balochistan.