Pakistani troops kill 24 militants in raids as violence escalates in region near Afghanistan

ISLAMABAD (AP) — 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.