ISLAMABAD: Five militants, belonging to the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), were killed and two others were apprehended in three separate operations in Pakistan’s northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) province, the Pakistani military said on Saturday.
Pakistani security forces killed three militants, including a high-value target, in an intelligence-based operation in KP’s Bajaur district, according to the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), the military’s media wing.
Two TTP militants were killed in the second operation in the North Waziristan district, while security forces busted a TTP hideout in the Mohmand district and arrested two members of the outlawed group.
“Weapons, ammunition and explosives were also recovered from these khwarij (TTP militants), who remained actively involved in numerous terrorist activities,” the ISPR said in a statement.
“Sanitization operations are being conducted to eliminate any other kharji found in the area.”
Pakistan has struggled to contain surging militancy in KP in recent years, where the Pakistani Taliban, or the TTP, have mounted their attacks against security forces and police since their fragile, months-long truce with Islamabad broke down in late 2022.
Late last month, the Pakistani military said it had killed 71 militants in three days of operations in the North Waziristan district that borders Afghanistan.
The number was usually high in Pakistan’s battle against militancy and instability along its border with Afghanistan during the nearly four years since the United States withdrew its military support from the country and the Taliban took over Kabul.
Islamabad has frequently accused Afghanistan of supporting the Pakistani Taliban and other militant groups, an allegation denied by Kabul.
Pakistan is also facing an intensifying separatist insurgency in the southwestern Balochistan province.
On Friday, a Levies paramilitary troop was killed in an attack on a check-post in Balochistan’s Kalat district, while there were reports of militant attacks on government buildings in Mangochar city, according to a Levies official.
“One Levies soldier was killed after gunmen targeted a Levies check-post in Kot Langove, an area of Kalat district,” Levies official Muhammad Ramzan told Arab News.
“Many armed militants obstructed the Quetta-Karachi highway in Mangochar and there are reports that many government buildings were torched in Mangochar Bazaar.”
The official said they were gathering more details about the incidents.
In another attack, armed men targeted a passenger bus heading to Karachi from Quetta in Khad Kocha area near Mastung.
“Six passengers were injured in the attack who were later shifted to Nawab Ghosh Bukhsh Memorial Hospital,” Mastung Deputy Commissioner Raja Atthar Abbas told Arab News.
“They were the same militants who attempted to take control of the highway in Kalat, but couldn’t succeed in blocking the road.”
No group immediately claimed responsibility for the attacks, but suspicions are likely to fall on Baloch separatists.
In March, fighters from the Baloch Liberation Army (BLA) separatist group hijacked the Jaffar Express train in Balochistan’s Bolan region, holding hundreds of passengers hostage.
The military launched a rescue operation in which 354 passengers were freed and 33 militants were killed. Officials said the hijacking killed 31 soldiers, railway staff and civilians.

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan has conducted a successful training launch of a surface-to-surface missile that has a range of 450 kilometers, the Pakistani military said on Saturday, amid heightened tensions with India.
India-Pakistan tensions have soared after New Delhi blamed an attack in Indian-administered Kashmir, which killed 26 tourists on April 22, on Pakistan. Islamabad has denied involvement and called for a credible international probe.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has given his military “full operational freedom” to respond to the attack, while Pakistan’s top military brass on Friday vowed to defend the country’s sovereignty after a minister said an Indian strike was “imminent.”
“Pakistan today conducted a successful training launch of the Abdali Weapon System — a surface-to-surface missile with a range of 450 kilometers, said the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), the Pakistani military’s media wing.
“The launch was aimed at ensuring the operational readiness of troops and validating key technical parameters, including the missile’s advanced navigation system and enhanced manoeuvrability features.”
India and Pakistan have exchanged diplomatic barbs, expelled each other’s citizens and shut border since the April 22 attack. India has suspended the 1960 World Bank-brokered Indus Waters Treaty that ensures water for 80 percent of Pakistani farms, with Islamabad describing it as an “act of war.”
The two nuclear-armed countries have exchanged gunfire for nine consecutive nights along their de facto border in Kashmir, according to Indian defense officials. There has been no comment by the Pakistani military on the skirmishes.
There have been fears that the latest crisis between the nuclear-armed rivals who have fought three wars, including two over the disputed region of Kashmir, could spiral into a military conflict.
Saturday’s missile launch was witnessed by the senior military officials as well as scientists and engineers from Pakistan’s strategic organizations, according to the ISPR.
“The president, prime minister of Pakistan, chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee, and services chiefs extended their congratulations to the participating troops, scientists and engineers,” it said.
“They expressed complete confidence in the operational preparedness and technical proficiency of Pakistan’s strategic forces to ensure credible minimum deterrence and safeguard national security against any aggression.”
Kashmir has been a flashpoint between India and Pakistan since their independence in 1947. The region is divided between the two countries, though both claim it in full.
Since 1989, several Kashmiri groups have carried out attacks in Indian-administered Kashmir, seeking independence or a merger with Pakistan. India accuses Pakistan of supporting these groups — a charge Islamabad denies, insisting it offers only diplomatic and political support to Kashmiris.
The United Nations (UN), United States, China, which shares its border with Indian and Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Iran and several other countries have urged restraint and asked both sides to resolve the latest crisis through dialogue.