Pakistan military kills 67 militants

Air strikes and a ground operation in the Khyber tribal region of Pakistan have come just days after Taliban militants attacked an army-run school.

Pakistani police stand guard in a watch tower of a jail

Pakistan's military has killed at least 50 militants in clashes in a troubled tribal region near Afghanistan. (AAP)

Pakistani jets and ground forces have killed 67 militants near the Afghan border, days after a Taliban school massacre.

The killing 148 people - most of them children - at a school in Pakistan's northwest earlier this week stunned the country and brought cries for retribution.

The military has since struck targets in the Khyber tribal region and approved the death penalty for six convicted terrorists.

It says its ground forces killed 10 militants late on Thursday, while jets killed another 17, including an Uzbek commander.

Another 32 alleged terrorists were killed by security forces in an ambush in Tirah valley in Khyber on Friday as they headed toward the Afghan border, the military said.

Khyber agency is one of two main areas in the northwest where the military has been trying to root out militants in recent months.

Khyber borders Peshawar, where the school massacre happened, and militants have traditionally attacked the city before fleeing into the tribal region where police can't chase them.

The other area is North Waziristan, where the military launched a massive operation in June.

In the southern province of Baluchistan, Pakistani security forces killed a senior Pakistani Taliban leader along with seven of his associates in three separate pre-dawn raids, said a tribal police officer, Ali Ahmed.

The news comes after Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on Wednesday announced that he would lift a moratorium on executions in terrorism-related cases.

Meanwhile, a Pakistani prosecutor said the government will try to cancel the bail granted to the main suspect in the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks - a decision that outraged neighbouring India.


Share

2 min read

Published

Updated


Share this with family and friends


Get SBS News daily and direct to your Inbox

Sign up now for the latest news from Australia and around the world direct to your inbox.

By subscribing, you agree to SBS’s terms of service and privacy policy including receiving email updates from SBS.

Download our apps
SBS News
SBS Audio
SBS On Demand

Listen to our podcasts
An overview of the day's top stories from SBS News
Interviews and feature reports from SBS News
Your daily ten minute finance and business news wrap with SBS Finance Editor Ricardo Gonçalves.
A daily five minute news wrap for English learners and people with disability
Get the latest with our News podcasts on your favourite podcast apps.

Watch on SBS
SBS World News

SBS World News

Take a global view with Australia's most comprehensive world news service
Watch the latest news videos from Australia and across the world