ISLAMABAD (AP) — Pakistani security forces conducted raids on several militant hideouts in the country’s northwestern region, killing members of the Pakistani Taliban and recovering a stockpile of weapons, according to the military and local officials.
The military announced Friday that intelligence-led operations carried out over the prior day resulted in the deaths of 24 fighters belonging to the outlawed Pakistani Taliban and Baloch separatist organizations.
According to a military statement, the raids were launched in direct response to two militant attacks that occurred on Wednesday. One involved a suicide bomber who loaded a vehicle with explosives and drove it into police officers and civilians. A lesser-known militant group also attacked a police station in Bannu, a district within Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province along the Afghan border, injuring several officers.
Pakistan’s President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif each issued separate statements Friday commending the security forces for what they called a rapid and effective response to those behind the recent Bannu attacks.
Both leaders stated that wiping out terrorism remains the government’s foremost priority and pledged to hold those responsible accountable.
The Pakistani Taliban — formally known as Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan, or TTP — are a distinct but allied group to the Afghan Taliban government now ruling Afghanistan. Pakistan regularly accuses the Afghan government in Kabul of ignoring cross-border militant activity, a charge Kabul consistently denies, even as the TTP and the Baloch separatist group BLA frequently take credit for attacks inside Pakistan.
Over the past year, Pakistan has launched multiple strikes it says were aimed at TTP strongholds near the Afghan border.
The Pakistani government in Islamabad also claims these militant groups receive backing from India, an allegation the Indian government in New Delhi denies. Both the president and prime minister repeated that claim in their Friday statements.
The military added that Pakistan’s security forces plan to continue the Azm-e-Istehkam campaign — translated as “Resolve for Stability” — a nationwide counterterrorism effort approved last year under the National Action Plan, designed to dismantle militant networks throughout the country.
