Pakistan’s military said on Monday that five soldiers were killed in a gunfight with Islamist militants in the country’s northwest on the border with Afghanistan.
The deaths were in addition to two other soldiers, including an officer, who were killed the previous day in an operation against militants on the outskirts of the northwestern city of Peshawar, the statement said.
It also said a total of 23 militants had been killed in three intelligence-based operations over the past two days. A hideaway in northwest Pakistan Close to the Afghanistan border.
The military said the militants were “involved in numerous terrorist activities against security forces and innocent civilians.”
The five soldiers were killed in the Khyber region, the statement said.
The military did not say which group the militants belonged to.
The lawless tribal areas along the Afghan border have long been a safe haven for Islamist and sectarian militants operating under an umbrella group known as the Pakistani Taliban (TTP).
The TTP seeks to overthrow the government and replace it with strict Islamic law.
Islamabad says TTP leaders have taken refuge in neighboring Afghanistan and are running camps to train Islamist militants to carry out attacks inside Pakistan.
Kabul has previously said the rise in violence in Pakistan was Islamabad’s internal matter.
Relations between Pakistan and Afghanistan have deteriorated in recent months, with Islamabad saying Kabul has not done enough to tackle militant groups targeting Pakistan.
Pakistan said on Sunday it had arrested 11 Islamist militants in a suicide bombing that killed five Chinese engineers and was allegedly planned by the TTP inside Afghanistan, a charge previously denied by the Kabul government.
First uploaded: 27 May 2024 23:30 IST
