ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan army said on Monday seven militants, including a main commander, had been arrested and three militants had been killed in separate operations in the country’s northwest.

Last month, the military announced it had expanded operations against militants across the country, especially in the northwest. The area is a former tribal region and had been a base for the Pakistani Taliban, a militant group that has waged an insurgency against the government in Islamabad for the past 15 years.

The Pakistani Taliban, known as the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan, are separate but allied with the Afghan Taliban, who seized power in Afghanistan in 2021. The takeover emboldened the TTP, which has stepped up attacks on Pakistani forces in recent months.

In two “intelligence based operations” carried out in Tank and Dera Ismail Khan in Pakistan’s northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province on Monday, the military said three militants were killed and two were injured.

“Sanitization of the surrounding areas is being carried out to eliminate any other terrorists found in the area,” the Pakistan army said. “Security forces of Pakistan are determined to eliminate the menace of terrorism.”

The army also launched a separate “intelligence-based operation” on Monday in Miran Shah, the main town in North Waziristan District.

“Resultantly, 7 x terrorists, including Terrorist Commander Mehtab alias Lala belonging to Hafiz Gul Bahadur Group, were successfully apprehended by security forces,” the army’s media wing said, referring to a group that used to control North Waziristan and has in the past played host not only to the feared Haqqani network and the Pakistani Taliban franchise, but also to militants from the Middle East, Central Asia and parts of Pakistan.

“The apprehended terrorists have been involved in numerous terrorist activities, especially target killings against security forces as well as innocent citizens, and were highly wanted by the security agencies,” the military added.