Security forces kill six militants in northwestern Pakistan — military

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s security forces killed six militants during two separate encounters in the country’s restive northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) province, the army’s media wing said in a statement late Friday.
The operations were carried out in the North Waziristan district at Pakistan’s border with Afghanistan, and in the Tank district of the Dera Ismail Khan division.
The South Asian country has seen an uptick in violence across the country over the last few months, especially in areas bordering Afghanistan, after a fragile truce between the state and the Pakistani Taliban militants, or the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), broke down in November last year.
“On 30 June 2023, six terrorists were [killed] as a result of successful operations conducted by the security forces in Tank and North Waziristan District,” the army’s media wing, the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), said in a statement.
It said that the first encounter took place at Manzai, Tank District on the night of June 29-30. “Troops effectively engaged the terrorists’ location and resultantly, 3x terrorists were sent to hell,” it added. The ISPR said weapons and ammunition were also recovered from the slain militants.
“In another fierce encounter between own troops and terrorists in the general area Razmak of North Waziristan district, three more terrorists were [killed].”
The ISPR added that all militants gunned down during the encounters were actively involved in militant activities, especially attacking security forces and killing civilians.
“The sanitization of the area[s] is being carried out to eliminate any other terrorists found in the areas. The locals appreciated the operation[s] and expressed their full support to eliminate the menace of terrorism,” it added.
The TTP, emboldened by the return of the Afghan Taliban to power in 2021, has increasingly carried out attacks against Pakistani security forces, causing a strain in the relations between the two countries.
While the TTP is a separate entity from the Afghan Taliban, the group has sworn allegiance to the Afghan Talibn and Pakistan suspects the interim Afghan government hasn’t taken decisive action against the militants it says operates from Afghan soil.
The operations were carried out two days after the Pakistan Army said it had killed four militants in northwestern Pakistan during separate gunbattles.