Accessibility links Skip to main content Keyboard shortcuts for audio player Open Navigation Menu --> Newsletters NPR Shop Get NPR+ Close Navigation Menu Home News Expand/collapse submenu for News National World Politics Business Health Science Climate Race Culture Expand/collapse submenu for Culture Books Movies Television Pop Culture Food Art & Design Performing Arts Life Kit Gaming Music Expand/collapse submenu for Music Tiny Desk New Music Friday All Songs Considered Music Features Live Sessions Podcasts & Shows Expand/collapse submenu for Podcasts & Shows Daily Morning Edition Weekend Edition Saturday Weekend Edition Sunday All Things Considered Up First Here & Now NPR Politics Podcast Featured Wait Wait...Don't Tell Me! Fresh Air Wild Card with Rachel Martin It's Been a Minute Embedded Get NPR+ More Podcasts & Shows Search Newsletters NPR Shop Get NPR+ Tiny Desk New Music Friday All Songs Considered Music Features Live Sessions About NPR Diversity Support Careers Press Ethics Pakistani forces kill 24 militants in border raids near Afghanistan The military said Friday it used intelligence sources to target militants over the previous 24 hours. The operations were in response to attacks by militants earlier in the week. Asia Pakistani forces kill 24 militants in border raids near Afghanistan July 17, 20269:15 AM ET By
The Associated Press
This is a locator map for Pakistan with its capital, Islamabad, and the Kashmir region. AP/AP hide caption
ISLAMABAD — Pakistani security forces raided multiple militant hideouts in the country's northwest region, killing Pakistani Taliban and seizing a cache of weapons, the military and local officials said.
The military said Friday it used intelligence sources to target militants in operations carried out over the previous day that killed 24 members of the outlawed Pakistani Taliban and Baloch separatist groups.
The military said in a statement that the raids came in response to a pair of militant attacks on Wednesday, including a suicide bomber who used a vehicle packed with explosives to ram police officers and civilians. A little-known militant group also targeted a police station and wounded several officers in Bannu, a district in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province bordering Afghanistan.
Pakistan's President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif praised the security forces on Friday for what they described as a swift and effective action against those responsible for recent attacks in Bannu.
The two men said in separate statements that eliminating terrorism remained the government's top priority and vowed to bring perpetrators to justice.
The Pakistani Taliban, known as Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan, or TTP, are separate from but allied with the Afghan Taliban government, which Pakistan frequently accuses of turning a blind eye to cross-border militant attacks. Afghanistan's government in Kabul repeatedly rejects the claims, although the TTP and Baloch separatist group BLA frequently claim responsibility for attacks in Pakistan.
Since last year, Pakistan has carried out multiple strikes it says targeted TTP hideouts along the Afghan border.
The Pakistani government in the capital Islamabad also alleges the groups receive support from India to the south, which the Indian government in New Delhi denies. In their statements Friday, the president and prime minister repeated the allegation.
Pakistan's security forces intend to press ahead with Azm-e-Istehkam, or "Resolve for Stability," a nationwide counterterrorism campaign approved last year under the National Action Plan to dismantle militant networks across the country, the military said.
Sponsor Message
Become an NPR sponsor