Pakistani security forces have killed 17 militants in two separate intelligence-based operations in Balochistan's Kachhi and Kharan districts, while one soldier was killed in an exchange of fire. The military's media wing, Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), said on Tuesday that the operations were carried out on November 1.
According to ISPR, the raids followed reports of the presence of fighters from groups the military calls "Fitna al-Hindustan" and "Fitna al-Khawarij" and describes as Indian proxies. In the Sanni area of Kachhi district, it said, troops foiled an attempt by militants to set up a roadblock in the town, killing ten of them and recovering weapons and ammunition.
In the second operation, in Kharan district, forces located a hideout and seven militants were killed in an intense gunfight, with more weapons seized. Sepoy Hikmat Ullah, 25, from Karak district, was killed in the same clash.
ISPR said sanitisation operations were continuing to clear any remaining militants, and that counterterrorism operations would go on under "Azm-e-Istehkam", the campaign approved by the Federal Apex Committee on the National Action Plan. The casualty figures could not be independently verified.