PESHAWAR: At least 10 militants were reported killed Sunday after security forces launched an intelligence-based operation in the Shahi Tangi area of Mamond tehsil, Bajaur district, sources and local correspondents confirmed.
Forces cordoned off the area before conducting a thorough search operation, during which militants opened fire, triggering an exchange that left around 10 dead, journalist Hasbanullah quoted local security sources as saying. There was no immediate statement from the militant side.
Bajaur, which shares a border with Afghanistan’s eastern Kunar province, has long been a stronghold of the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP). Security officials have consistently maintained that Pakistani militants maintain hideouts across the border in Kunar — an assertion the TTP and affiliated groups dispute, insisting their operations are based on the Pakistani side.
Local reports said a large-scale clearance operation remains underway and will continue until the area is fully secured.
The volatile border region has seen persistent militant activity over the years. Former TTP chief Maulvi Fazlullah was killed in a US drone strike in Kunar in June 2018, highlighting the deeply entrenched cross-border dimension of the insurgency that security forces continue to grapple with today.
