ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s military said on Wednesday its security forces had killed 32 suspected militants during ongoing coordinated intelligence-based operations in the northwestern province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and the southwestern province of Balochistan.
The operations come as Pakistan continues an intensified counterterrorism campaign against religiously motivated militants and separatist insurgents following a surge in attacks across its western regions.
“In last 24 hours security forces have successfully eliminated thirty two terrorists of these Indian proxies,” the military’s media wing, Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), said, saying 24 militants were killed during multiple operations in Khyber district in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and another eight in separate raids in Nushki district in Balochistan.
It said weapons, ammunition and improvised explosive devices were recovered during the operations and that follow-up searches were continuing to locate any remaining militants.
The military described the militants in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa as belonging to what it calls “Fitna al Khwarij,” its official term for the Pakistani Taliban, also known as Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP). It said those killed in Balochistan were part of “Fitna al Hindustan,” a term the Pakistani state uses for militant groups that it says are backed by India.
Pakistan has repeatedly accused New Delhi of supporting militant violence, particularly in Balochistan, where separatist groups have for decades waged an insurgency against the state, as well as of backing militant attacks elsewhere in the country. India has consistently rejected the allegations.
