Pakistani security forces engaged the insurgents in three separate gunfights, killing 19 militants, officials said yesterday (October 24).

Troops killed 9 militants in the first overnight raid in Bajur, a district in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, the army said in a statement without giving further details. Arms and ammunition were seized from a hideout in Bajur, which was a base for the militants until many were killed or forced out in several security operations.

Meanwhile, police said heavy exchange of fire is still going on in another district, Dera Ismail Khan.

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, in the volatile northwestern region bordering Afghanistan, is a former stronghold of the Pakistani Taliban.

Also Thursday, police said in a statement that officers shot and killed 10 militants in Mianwali, a district in eastern Punjab province. No details were shared about the slain insurgents.

The Pakistani Taliban in recent months have repeatedly attacked officers in Mianwali.

The TTP is a separate group but a close ally of the Afghan Taliban, which seized power in neighboring Afghanistan in 2021. The Taliban’s takeover next door emboldened the Pakistani Taliban who stepped up attacks on Pakistani forces.