Pakistan's army says it killed 74 militants in raids on their hideouts

Pakistan's military has claimed that 74 militants were killed in separate counterterrorism operations in the provinces of Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa over the past 48 hours.

The operations, carried out on the basis of intelligence reports, targeted several militant hideouts, according to the country's military.

In a statement, Pakistan's Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) said the operations were conducted to dismantle militant networks and curb their activities. The raids particularly targeted areas in Mir Ali and Orakzai in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province.

According to the ISPR, 35 members of the group it described as the India-backed 'Fitna al-Khawarij' were killed in an intense exchange of fire with security forces in Mir Ali. Another eight members of the same group were killed in a separate operation in Orakzai.

Meanwhile, the military said 31 militants were killed in separate operations in Balochistan province. The intelligence-based operations have been underway in the Kurram area of Quetta district since November 3, targeting members of groups identified by the military as 'Fitna al-Khawarij' and 'Fitna al-Hindustan'.

The military statement said security forces raided several militant hideouts in Balochistan, killing 31 people in the ensuing clashes. A large quantity of weapons, ammunition and explosives was also recovered from the sites. The seized materials included improvised bombs and improvised explosive devices (IEDs).

The ISPR claimed that the explosives were intended for use in planned terrorist attacks, but the security operations had foiled those plans.

The statement added that counterterrorism operations were being conducted across Pakistan under the 'Azm-e-Istehkam' initiative, approved by the Federal Apex Committee as part of the country's National Action Plan. Such operations would continue until foreign-backed terrorism was eliminated, it said.

However, despite claiming that 74 militants had been killed, the Pakistani military did not provide details of operations in areas outside Khyber Pakhtunkhwa or disclose the identities of all those killed. Independent verification of the reported death toll and the military's account of the operations was not immediately available.