Pakistani security forces killed eight militants during an overnight raid in North Waziristan, a restive district in the northwest near Afghanistan, the military said on Thursday.
The operation targeted an insurgent hideout in a region once dominated by the Pakistani Taliban, or Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP).
The military reported that weapons and ammunition were seized after a fierce gun battle, though it did not provide specific details on the militants killed or their group affiliations. North Waziristan, part of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, has long been a hub for militant activity, including TTP fighters and foreign insurgents, until major military operations cleared many of the groups from the area.
The TTP, though separate from the Afghan Taliban, maintains close ties with the group that took control of Afghanistan in 2021. The Taliban’s rise to power in Afghanistan has bolstered the TTP, whose leaders and fighters have increasingly sought refuge across the border. This has heightened tensions between Pakistan and the Afghan Taliban, as Islamabad urges Kabul to prevent the TTP from using Afghan territory as a launchpad for attacks.
The Afghan government has consistently denied allowing its soil to be used for attacks against Pakistan or any other nation.
