https://arab.news/5ueax
- The militants were killed in separate operations amid a ceasefire between Pakistan, Afghanistan, following their week-long clashes last month
- Two rounds of talks between the neighbors have failed to yield results, with Pakistan seeking ‘verifiable’ action against militants on Afghan soil
ISLAMABAD: Pakistani security forces have killed 20 Pakistani Taliban militants in separate engagements in the country’s northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) province, the Pakistani military said on Monday.
The development comes amid a surge in militancy in Pakistan’s western regions that border Afghanistan, which last month triggered fierce, week-long clashes between the two neighbors.
Pakistani forces killed eight militants in an intelligence-based operation in North Waziristan district, according to the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), the Pakistani military’s media wing.
Another intelligence-based operation was conducted in the Dara Adam Khel town that led to an intense exchange of fire with militants, leaving 12 more Pakistani Taliban members dead.
“Sanitization operations are being conducted to eliminate any other Indian-sponsored kharji (militant) found in the area,” the ISPR said in a statement.
Islamabad frequently accuses the Afghan Taliban of sheltering the Pakistani Taliban, or the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), and India of backing the group in launching cross-border attacks against Pakistan. Kabul and New Delhi deny the allegation.
Tensions between Pakistan and Afghanistan have surged in recent years following an uptick in militant attacks, mainly by the TTP. The latest operations against TTP militants come amid a ceasefire between Pakistan and Afghanistan, reached in Doha on Oct. 19.
Clashes erupted between the neighbors on Oct. 11 after Pakistan conducted airstrikes in Afghanistan against what it said were TTP-linked targets. Two subsequent rounds of talks between the neighbors have failed to yield results, with Pakistan seeking “verifiable” action against militant groups operating on Afghan soil.