ISLAMABAD: Two Pakistani soldiers and three militants were killed in a gunfight in the restive northwest of the country, the Pakistani military said late Saturday, amid a rise in militant violence in the South Asian country.
Security forces conducted an intelligence-based operation over the presence of militants in Tank district, according to the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), the military’s media wing.
“During conduct of the operation, intense fire exchange took place between security forces and terrorists, resulting in killing of 3x terrorists,” the ISPR said in a statement.
“The killed terrorists have remained actively involved in numerous terrorist activities against security forces as well as innocent citizens.”
Two soldiers, Naik Muhammad Atiq and Naik Rajab Ali, were also killed during the fierce firefight, according to the military.
“Sanitization of the area is being carried out to eliminate any terrorists,” the ISPR added.
Pakistan has witnessed an uptick in militant attacks targeting security forces and police, particularly after the Pakistani Taliban, or the outlawed Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), ended their fragile truce with the government in November 2022.
In January, over 80 people were killed when a suicide blast struck a mosque located inside a police compound in the northwestern city of Peshawar.
In December last year, Pakistani Taliban inmates seized a counterterrorism facility in the northwestern Bannu district, which had to be taken back after a military operation.
The TTP is a separate group but an ally of the Afghan Taliban, who seized power in Afghanistan more than a year ago. The Taliban takeover in Afghanistan has emboldened Pakistani militants, whose top leaders and fighters are said to be hiding across the border.
