RAWALPINDI: Pakistan’s military said on Wednesday that security forces killed 32 militants belonged to Fitna al Khawarij and Fitna al Hindustan during intelligence-based operations in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan over the past 24 hours.
According to the military’s media wing, Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), the operations targeted what it described as Indian-backed militant groups operating in the two provinces.
The ISPR said security forces carried out multiple intelligence-based search and targeted operations overnight in Khyber district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. Troops engaged several militant positions and killed 24 militants belonging to Fitna al Khwarij.
In a separate operation in Nushki district of Balochistan, security forces killed eight suspected militants associated with Fitna al Hindustan, the statement said.
The military said troops recovered and destroyed weapons, ammunition and improvised explosive devices during the operations.
The ISPR said clearance operations were continuing in the affected areas to locate any remaining militants and their facilitators.
Pakistan’s military said the operations form part of the country’s ongoing counterterrorism campaign under Azm-e-Istehkam, a strategy approved by the federal Apex Committee under the National Action Plan.
The claims could not be independently verified, and there was no immediate response from the groups named by the military.
