Security forces kill 23 TTP militants in northwestern Pakistan

Peshawar: Security forces killed 23 Taliban militants in two separate engagements in northwest Pakistan, bordering Afghanistan, the army said on Thursday.

The troops gunned down 12 militants belonging to the banned Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) during the conduct of the operation in Kurram district in the restive Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, the army said in a statement.

The operations conducted on the reported presence of militants in the Kurram district were an expansion of operations started on Wednesday.

Based on the intel, another operation was conducted in the same area, neutralising 11 other TTP militants.

"Capitalising on intelligence with respect to the presence of another group of khwarij, in the same general area, in another intelligence-based operation, the troops successfully neutralised eleven more khwarij," the statement added.

The Pakistan government last year notified the banned TTP as "Fitna al-Khawarij", a reference to a group in earlier Islamic history which was involved in violence.

In a separate incident, a man and his four-year-old son were killed when a mortar shell landed near their house in Tirah Valley, bordering Afghanistan, on Wednesday, police said on Thursday.

Meanwhile, in South Waziristan, security forces recovered 16 improvised explosive devices (IEDs) during an intelligence-based operation (IBO) in the Birmal tehsil on Wednesday.

Officials said the explosives were likely intended for attacks against civilians.

In Lakki Marwat, TTP commander Wali, alias Woloo Kakakhel, was captured alive by unidentified men on Thursday.