Pakistan's army says it killed 74 militants in raids on their hideouts

Pakistani security forces have killed 74 militants in multiple raids on hideouts in the northwest and southwestern regions bordering Afghanistan over the past 10 days, the military said Friday.

The raids were carried out in the Mir Ali and Orakzai districts in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, the military said in a statement. Troops killed 43 militants and seized weapons, ammunition and explosive devices, the statement said.

Separately, troops killed 31 militants in multiple operations in Balochistan province, the site of a bloody insurgency led by the outlawed Baloch Liberation Army, since Nov. 3, the military said. It alleged the militants were backed by Afghanistan and India. Kabul and New Delhi have previously denied such allegations.

President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif praised the security forces and vowed to continue the fight against militancy.

The military identified the militants as Khawarij, a term the government uses for fighters it says are backed by Afghanistan, including those linked to the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan. Kabul denies the accusations.

The Pakistani Taliban are a separate group from but allied with Afghanistan’s Taliban, who have been emboldened since taking power in Kabul in 2021. Many TTP leaders and fighters are believed to operate from sanctuaries across the Afghan border, straining relations between Islamabad and Kabul.