Pakistan military kills 8 militants near Afghanistan border

Pakistani security forces killed eight insurgents in an overnight operation at a militant hideout near the Afghan border, the military said, and the shootout left one soldier dead and four wounded Wednesday.

According to a military statement, the shootout took place in Shin Warsak area of South Waziristan, a district in the northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, where an intelligence-based operation was conducted.

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It said the dead militants were actively involved in attacks on security forces and killing innocent citizens.

The military did not identify the militant group to which the slain fighters belonged but the mountainous region along the Afghan border has long served as a base for the Pakistani Taliban and other militants until a few years ago, when the army said it cleared the region of insurgents. But occasional attacks have continued.

The Pakistani Taliban, also known as Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan or TTP, are a separate group from the Afghan Taliban, although Pakistan’s militant groups are often interlinked with those across the border.

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