Pakistan's military media wing, the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), said four soldiers died in separate engagements as troops killed 24 people it identified as terrorists across North Waziristan and Balochistan.
The military said its forces killed 16 people it identified as terrorists in North Waziristan, in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, and said two Afghan nationals were among those killed. It identified the soldiers killed there as Havildar Asmat Ali, 43, from Swabi district, and Naik Aftab Ali, 32, from Mardan district. The military said troops also recovered weapons and ammunition.
In Balochistan, the military said an operation in Kolpur overnight from Nov. 13 to 14 killed eight people, including a suicide bomber. It said armed quadcopters were used to target military vehicles on patrol, killing Major Omer Minhas Nasir, from Chakwal district, and Havildar Muhammad Adnan Khan, from Kotli Sattian.
ISPR accused India of financing and equipping Fitna al-Hindustan and alleged that other hostile intelligence agencies backed the group. The military said clearance operations would continue as part of Azm-e-Istehkam, its counterterrorism campaign. It said the Federal Apex Committee approved the campaign under the National Action Plan.
The announcement followed a report the previous day that the military said 74 people it identified as militants had been killed in operations across two provinces, as EconoTimes reported in its earlier coverage.