The Pakistani military announced on Thursday that it had killed eight militants during an overnight raid in North Waziristan, a district in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province bordering Afghanistan. The operation targeted a former stronghold of the Pakistani Taliban, also known as Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP).
In a statement, the armed forces said they had sent eight militants “to hell” during the operation. While the military did not specify the affiliation of the killed militants, such operations frequently target the TTP.
The military reported that weapons and ammunition were seized following a violent shootout. The statement asserted that the militants were “involved in terrorist activities against security forces” and the killing of innocent civilians.
North Waziristan, once a base for the TTP and foreign militants, has been the focus of a series of security operations in recent years aimed at driving extremist groups from the area.
The TTP, while separate from the Afghan Taliban, maintains close ties with the group that seized power in neighboring Afghanistan in 2021. Pakistani officials have expressed concern that the Taliban takeover in Kabul has emboldened the TTP to continue its militant operations within Pakistan.
