19 militants killed in separate shootouts in Pakistan
UNB
Publish: 25 Oct 2024, 05:11 PM
PESHAWAR,
Pakistan, Oct 25 (AP/UNB)- Pakistani security forces faced off with insurgents
in three separate shootouts, killing 19 militants, officials said Thursday.
Troops killed 9
militants in the first overnight raid in Bajur, a district in Khyber
Pakhtunkhwa province, the military said in a statement without providing
further details. Weapons and ammunition were seized from a hideout in Bajur
which used to be a base for militants until many were killed or forced out in
multiple security operations.
Meanwhile, police said
an intense exchange of fire was still ongoing in another district, Dera Ismail
Khan.
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa
province, in the volatile northwestern region that borders Afghanistan, is a
former stronghold of the Pakistani Taliban.
Also on Thursday, police
said in a statement officers shot and killed 10 militants in Mianwali, a
district in the eastern Punjab province. No details about the slain insurgents
were shared.
Pakistani Taliban in
recent months have repeatedly attacked officers in Mianwali.
The TTP is a separate
group but a close ally of the Afghan Taliban, who seized power in neighboring
Afghanistan in 2021. The Taliban takeover next door has emboldened the
Pakistani Taliban who have stepped up attacks on Pakistani forces.
End/UNB/AP/SU