Pakistani army kills 8 militants in Afghan border raid

Pakistan’s military said its forces raided a militant hideout in a former stronghold of the local Taliban near the border with Afghanistan, triggering an intense shootout that killed eight militants.

Elsewhere, a suicide bomber on Monday targeted a vehicle with security forces in the northwestern Bannu district, killing two civilians and wounding 10 others, including three soldiers, the military said.

Troops seized weapons and ammunition from the hideout in an intelligence-based operation on Sunday in the South Waziristan district in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province.

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No detail was given about the militants’ identities. But blame usually falls on the Pakistani Taliban, known as Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan or TTP, a separate group but allied with the Afghan Taliban, who seized power in Afghanistan in August 2021 as U.S. and NATO troops were in the final stages of their pullout from the country after 20 years of war.

Many TTP leaders and fighters have found sanctuaries in Afghanistan since the Taliban takeover, which also emboldened the Pakistani Taliban who also often target troops across the country. Tensions between the two countries have spiked with Pakistan demanding the Taliban administration stop the TTP from using Afghan soil to launch attacks.

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Pakistan’s military said the suicide bomber who struck Monday was an Afghan. Pakistan has said some Afghans were among those who carried out high-profile attacks in recent months.

Authorities in Pakistan this month started a crackdown on migrants living in the country illegally, mostly targeting millions of Afghans. So far, more than 400,000 Afghans have returned to their home country for fear of arrest.

The Taliban-led administration in Afghanistan has denounced the forcible deportation and the United Nations warned it could lead to severe human rights violations.