Islamabad: Pakistani troops have killed 40 militants since the start of an operation last week in a valley on the northwestern border with Afghanistan, the military said on Monday.
In the latest offensive, security forces killed six people in a remote northwestern valley near the Afghan border in a new offensive against Islamist militants in the area, the military said.
All six killed in the Khyber region were “militants”, the military said in a statement late on Sunday.
The security forces have occupied mountain passes and are now consolidating their positions up in high mountains in Rajgal area of Khyber Agency tribal district, the Inter-Services Public Relations said.
During search in the area huge cache of arms and ammo including IEDs were recovered on Monday, the statement said.
During the operation code-named Khyber-3 some 21 militants have also been injured in treacherous terrain of Rajgal and 43 hideouts destroyed through ground and aerial action, it said.
In June 2014, comprehensive military operation titled Zarb-e-Azb was launched in the tribal districts along the border in the northwest.
Over the past two years the security forces have cleared most tribal areas including Waziristan, dismantling militant sanctuaries and killing thousands of militants, according to military officials.
Currently, intelligence-based combing operations are also being conducted across the country to eliminate sleeper cells and hiding militants, the military’s public relations wing has said.
The Pakistani offensive has squeezed some groups into small pockets of territory, while others have fled over the border into lawless areas of eastern Afghanistan.
Nevertheless, the militants are still capable of launching deadly attacks across Pakistan.
A bomb attack on a crowd in a hospital courtyard in the city of Quetta on Aug. 8 killed more than 70 people, the deadliest attack in Pakistan since 2014.
— With inputs from agencies
