Security forces kill 11 TTP terrorists in northwest Pakistan

Security forces in northwest Pakistan killed 11 terrorists in the North Waziristan district, targeting multiple locations in the Datta Khel area.

Security forces killed 11 terrorists in the last two days in northwest Pakistan, the army said on Sunday.

The security forces conducted intelligence-based operations in the North Waziristan district of the restive Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, according to a statement issued by the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR)- the media wing of the Pakistan Army.

Multiple terrorist locations were targeted during the operations in the Datta Khel area of the district, it said.

''Following intense and fierce exchanges of fire, eleven khawarij belonging to Fitna-al-Khawarij were effectively neutralised,'' the statement added.

''Fitna-al-Khawarij'' is a term the state uses for the banned Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP).

Weapons and ammunition were recovered from the possession of gunned-down terrorists, ISPR said, adding that these assailants were actively involved in numerous disruptive activities in the area.

Earlier this week, the military media wing said security forces had killed another 22 terrorists in the district.

In a separate development on Sunday, unidentified terrorists killed four local peace committee members in the Dera Ismail Khan district of the same province.

The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa region in northwest Pakistan has faced recurring unrest over the years, driven by militant violence, cross-border movement of fighters from Afghanistan and repeated military operations.

The government accuses the banned terror outfit TTP of carrying out terror attacks in provinces bordering Afghanistan after its ceasefire deal ended in November 2022.