23 Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan militants & seven soldiers killed in separate clashes in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province

Islamabad: At least 23 militants affiliated with the banned Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) were killed and seven Pakistani soldiers died in three separate clashes since Sunday in the troubled north-western province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, the army said on Monday.

According to a statement issued by the media wing of the Pakistan Army, the fighting took place on Sunday and Monday as the security forces increased pressure on the rebels affiliated with the TTP, which has been allegedly operating out of Afghanistan.

"Twenty-three terrorists were sent to hell by the security forces in three separate operations in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province", the army said.

The army stated that an intelligence-based operation was conducted on Sunday in the Hassan Khel area near Peshawar in which six terrorists were successfully neutralised by the security forces and multiple hideouts were busted. However, an officer and a soldier were killed in the clash, it said.

In another operation conducted in the Tank district of the province on Monday, Pakistan troops effectively engaged the terrorists’ location, as a result of which ten terrorists were killed.

The third clash occurred in the Bagh area of Khyber district, wherein the security forces killed seven terrorists while two were injured. However, during the intense exchange of fire, five soldiers were killed.

"A large quantity of weapons, ammunition and explosives was also recovered from the killed terrorists, who remained actively involved in numerous terrorist activities against the security forces as well as the innocent civilians" according to the army.

It said that sanitisation operations are being carried out to eliminate any other terrorists found in the area.

The army said that the country’s forces were determined to wipe out the menace of terrorism.

Pakistan has been facing a resurgent TTP which allegedly has a strong presence in Afghanistan and uses its territory to hide and train and also launch cross-border attacks. Pakistan has been pushing Kabul to take action against them but so far it has been of no avail.