Pakistani military says killed two militants in restive northwest

ISLAMABAD: Two militants were killed in an intelligence-based operation in Pakistan’s restive Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) province, the Pakistani military said on Friday, amid a renewed wave of militancy in the South Asian country.
The operation was conducted in KP’s Tank district on the reported presence of militants, according to the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), the military’s media wing.
The deceased included a “high-value target,” Gul Yousaf, who carried Rs2.5 million head money.
“Gul Yousaf remained actively involved in numerous terrorist activities against security forces including high profile terrorist attacks in Tank and DI Khan districts as well as extortion and target killing of innocent civilians,” the ISPR said in a statement.
Pakistan has witnessed a surge in militant violence in its western regions that border Afghanistan over the last one year, which particularly increased after the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) called off its months-long truce with the government in Islamabad in November 2022.
The militant group, which is said to have sanctuaries in neighboring Afghanistan, is separate from but a close ally of the Afghan Taliban.
The operation in Tank comes days after security forces killed four militants, including a suicide bomber, in the North Waziristan tribal district.
Earlier this week, bodies of six men, who worked as barbers and hailed from the Punjab province, were found in Mir Ali area of North Waziristan, which sparked fear among locals.