At least 11 people dead in Pakistan after military raids

At least two soldiers and nine of the group’s fighters were killed in gun battles that were reportedly sparked by Pakistan’s security forces’ raids of two hideouts in the restive northwest, according to the military.

In Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, which borders Afghanistan, the raids were carried out on Saturday in the districts of Mohmand and Dera Ismail Khan.

Local authorities claim that the fighters were members of the Pakistani Taliban’s Tehreek-e-Taliban (TTP).

The Taliban, a separate organization and an ally of the Afghan Taliban, reclaimed control of the country in August 2021 as American and other NATO forces made their way out of the country after 20 years of hostilities.

Since the Taliban’s takeover, which also bolstered the Pakistani Taliban, many TTP leaders and fighters have found refuge in Afghanistan and even have lived there.

In a separate incident on Saturday, local police said, security forces were ambushed in the Kurram district in northwest Pakistan. Authorities have not yet confirmed any injuries from that attack.

Kurram, a region where Sunni and Shia Muslim communities have fought for years, is where Pakistan’s military is currently conducting an operation. Tensive tensions are heightened in the area as a result of hundreds of fatalities in conflict between armed groups.

Authorities have blocked key roads in Kurram since November, but he has remained isolated as a result of sectarian violence. A humanitarian crisis has become more severe as a result of the closure, which has caused severe food and medical shortages.