Pakistan says raids kill 24 militants after suicide attack near Afghan border

Pakistani security forces say they killed 24 militants in intelligence-based raids in the northwest of the country after a series of attacks in Bannu, a district in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province bordering Afghanistan. The military said the operations were carried out over the previous day in response to two militant attacks on Wednesday. Officials said the raids targeted members of the outlawed Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan and Baloch separatist groups.

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According to the military, one of the attacks involved a suicide bomber who rammed an explosives-laden vehicle into police officers and civilians. Another attack saw a little-known militant group target a police station in Bannu, injuring several police officers. The military said a cache of weapons was also recovered during the operations.

It did not give further details on the identities of those killed or the exact locations of the raids. President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif praised the security forces in separate statements, describing the response as swift and effective. Both leaders said eliminating terrorism remains the government's top priority and vowed to bring those responsible for the attacks to justice.

The statement from the military said security forces would continue with Azm-e-Istehkam, the nationwide counterterrorism campaign launched last year under Pakistan's National Action Plan. The raids come amid a prolonged security challenge in Pakistan's northwest, where militant violence has remained a major concern for the state. Bannu's location near the Afghan border makes it strategically sensitive, and Pakistani officials have repeatedly linked attacks in the area to groups they say operate across the frontier.

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The latest operation also reflects the continuing focus on counterterrorism in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, where security forces have carried out multiple strikes against suspected militant hideouts since last year. Pakistan has long accused the TTP of maintaining close ideological and operational ties with Afghanistan's Taliban rulers, an allegation Kabul has repeatedly rejected. Islamabad has also accused the TTP and Baloch separatist groups of receiving support from India, a claim New Delhi denies.

The TTP and the Baloch Liberation Army have frequently claimed responsibility for attacks in Pakistan, making attribution a central issue in the country's counterinsurgency response. What remains unclear is the full scale of the damage from the earlier attacks and whether the raids disrupted any wider militant network beyond the 24 people the military said were killed. Officials have not said whether any arrests were made or whether the weapons recovered point to further planned attacks.

The next developments to watch are any follow-up statements from the military, details on the identities of those killed, and whether the counterterrorism campaign leads to further operations in the border region.

#Pakistan #KhyberPakhtunkhwa #Bannu #TehrikeTalibanPakistan #counterterrorism

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