Pakistan Security Forces Eliminate 17 TTP Militants in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Raid: Latest Counter-Terrorism Operation

The confrontation occurred in Karak, a district located in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province. (Representational)

Islamabad:

On Friday, Pakistani security forces conducted a raid on a militant hideout in the northwestern region of the country, resulting in a firefight that ended with 17 Pakistani Taliban militants dead, according to police reports.

Regional Police Chief Shehbaz Elahi confirmed the clash took place in Karak, a district within Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province. He reported that three officers sustained injuries during the exchange of gunfire.

Elahi described the slain militants as "Khwarij," a terminology commonly employed by Pakistani authorities when referring to members of the Pakistani Taliban, but provided no additional details about the operation.

While such security operations are routinely carried out, Friday's raid followed a similar intelligence-driven operation just two days earlier in Dera Ismail Khan, another northwestern district, where 13 Pakistani Taliban fighters were killed during an armed confrontation.

In recent years, Pakistan has experienced an increase in militant violence, with many attacks attributed to separatist groups and the Pakistani Taliban, also identified as Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan, or TTP.

The TTP operates as a group separate from, but allied with, the Afghan Taliban. Their activities have intensified since the Afghan Taliban regained power in 2021, with many TTP leaders and fighters believed to have sought refuge in Afghanistan during this period.