ISLAMABAD: Pakistan security forces have killed nine Pakistani Taliban militants in two separate engagements in the northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) province, the military said on Sunday, amid a surge in militancy in the region bordering Afghanistan.
Four militants were killed in an intelligence-based operation in KP's Dera Ismail Khan, while five other Pakistani Taliban members were gunned in an exchange of fire with security forces in the Bannu district, according to the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), the military's media wing.
Weapons and ammunition were also recovered from the deceased "Indian-sponsored" militants, who remained actively involved in numerous activities against security forces and law enforcement agencies and target killing of civilians. There was no immediate response from India to the statement.
"Sanitization operations are being conducted to eliminate any other Indian sponsored kharja [militant] found in the area," the ISPR said in a statement. "Pakistan will continue at full pace to wipe out menace of foreign sponsored and supported terrorism from the country."
KP has seen a surge in militancy in recent years, with the Pakistani Taliban, or the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), and other militant groups frequently targeting security forces convoys and check-posts, besides targeted killings and kidnappings of law enforcers and government officials.
Pakistan this week summoned Afghanistan’s deputy head of mission and demanded “decisive action” against the TTP after four Pakistani soldiers were killed in an attack on a military camp in KP’s North Waziristan district that also killed four assailants, according to the Pakistani foreign office.
Islamabad has long accused Kabul of allowing its soil and India of backing militant groups, including the TTP, for attacks against Pakistan. Kabul and New Delhi have consistently denied this.
The uptick in militant violence triggered fierce clashes between Pakistan and Afghanistan in Oct. The two countries agreed to a ceasefire in Doha on Oct. 19, but tensions remain high between the neighbors.
