ISLAMABAD: Fifteen Pakistani Taliban militants were killed in the northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) province in two separate counterterror operations last week, the military’s media wing said on Tuesday.
According to the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), security forces conducted the first intelligence-based operation in the northwestern Dera Ismail Khan district on Nov. 15 and 16. It said 10 militants, including Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) leader Alam Mehsud, were killed.
In the second operation conducted in North Waziristan district in the Datta Khel area, the ISPR said five more militants were killed.
“Sanitization operations are being conducted to eliminate any other Indian sponsored kharji found in the area,” the military’s media wing said in a statement.
Pakistan’s military and government frequently use the term “khawarij” to describe the TTP or the Pakistani Taliban militants. The military also alleges that the Indian government arms and funds the TTP and separatist militant outfits in KP and Balochistan. New Delhi denies the allegations.
In a separate statement, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif praised security forces for killing 15 militants.
“The prime minister stated that the entire nation stands with Pakistan’s armed forces in this war against terrorism,” a statement from Sharif’s office said.
Islamabad accuses the Afghan government of not taking “decisive, concrete” actions against TTP militants that it alleges launch attacks on Pakistan from Afghan soil. The Taliban-led government in Kabul denies the allegations and insists Pakistan resolve its security challenges internally.
The TTP has carried out some of the deadliest attacks against Pakistan’s law enforcement agencies since 2007 in its bid to impose a strict brand of Islamic law.
The recent surge in militant attacks in Pakistan have strained Islamabad’s ties with Kabul. The two countries engaged in deadly border clashes in October which saw dozens, including soldiers, killed on both sides before a temporary ceasefire was reached in Doha last month.
