Latest news with #militants
LBCI
6 hours ago
- Politics
- LBCI
Turkey says it will intervene against any attempt to divide Syria
Turkey will directly intervene to stop any attempt to fragment Syria and will prevent any attempts by militants to obtain autonomy after clashes in southern Syria, Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said on Tuesday. His warning against fragmentation, in comments to reporters in Ankara, appeared aimed at Israel as Turkey considers this to be Israel's ultimate aim in Syria.
Arab News
10 hours ago
- Politics
- Arab News
Pakistan army says 8 India-linked militants killed in two-day sweep in Balochistan
ISLAMABAD: Pakistani security forces have killed eight militants in operations conducted over two days in the southwestern Balochistan province, the military said on Tuesday, describing the insurgents as Indian proxies. The fighting took place in Kalat district during an intelligence-based operation targeting suspected 'Fitna al Hindustan,' a term the Pakistani military uses for militants it says are backed by neighbor and archrival India. Pakistan's restive Balochistan province has long been the site of separatist and insurgent violence, and Islamabad has frequently alleged Indian involvement in destabilizing activities there, a charge New Delhi denies. 'Following the successful intelligence based operation conducted by the security forces in Kalat District of Balochistan on 19 July 2025, during which 4 x terrorists belonging to Indian proxy, Fitna al Hindustan were sent to hell; on 21 July 2025, a deliberate sanitization operation was conducted in the surrounding areas,' the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), the military's media wing, said in a statement. 'During the conduct of the operation, four more terrorists of Fitna al Hindustan were hunted down and successfully neutralized.' The military said a hideout was also 'busted' and a large quantity of weapons, ammunition and explosives was recovered. In a separate statement, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif praised security forces for the Kalat operation and reaffirmed his government's resolve to eliminate terrorism. 'The terrorists who seek to harm the lives and property of innocent citizens will have their nefarious ambitions buried,' Sharif said in a statement issued by his office. 'We will uproot Fitna al Hindustan, the enemy of Pakistan's sovereignty.' The operation follows a series of recent accusations and military tensions between the nuclear-armed neighbors, including most recently when they engaged in a four-day long air war in May. India and Pakistan have in the past fought multiple wars over the disputed Kashmir region and regularly trade blame over cross-border militancy.
Arab News
a day ago
- Politics
- Arab News
Eight Pakistan paramilitary troops, seven militants killed in separate engagements
QUETTA: At least eight Pakistani paramilitary troops and seven militants were killed in separate clashes in the country's northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) and southwestern Balochistan provinces, officials said on Monday. A high-value Daesh militant, who was under custody for the kidnapping and murder of a young boy, was killed during a police 'encounter' with his accomplices, who attempted to free him while he was being taken for the identification of a Daesh hideout in Balochistan's Mastung district, according to a CTD statement. The suspect's accomplices present inside opened heavy fire on the CTD team, resulting in a fierce exchange that resulted in the killing of the suspect, Hasham, by 'his group's fire,' while two militants were also neutralized on the spot, the CTD said. The claim could not be independently verified. 'All three killed suspects were linked to Daesh (ISKP) and were planning future acts of terror. The group was also involved in targeted killings and extortion networks, using child abductions to fund militant operations,' the CTD said in a statement. Muhammad Musawir Khan Kakar, a third-grade student, was kidnapped from a school van by unidentified armed men while on his way to school in Quetta on Nov. 15, 2024, according to his family and police. His body was found in Mastung's Dasht area on June 23. Separately, eight Pakistani paramilitary troops and four militants were killed in a clash in KP's Orakzai district that borders Afghanistan, AFP news agency reported, citing local officials. 'Armed terrorists attacked a Frontier Corps (FC) convoy with heavy weapons... The fighting continued for several hours,' the news agency quoted a senior local security official as saying. 'Eight FC personnel were killed, and 11 were injured.' Three injured soldiers are in critical condition, while the clash also killed four militants, he added. Pakistan is currently battling twin insurgencies: one led my religiously motivated groups, including the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), mainly in its Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province and the other by ethno-nationalist Baloch separatist groups, Daesh and other smaller groups in Balochistan. In recent months, Islamabad has frequently accused India of backing militant groups and Afghanistan of allowing the use of its soil for attacks against Pakistan. Kabul and New Delhi deny the allegation. — With additional input from AFP
Arab News
a day ago
- Politics
- Arab News
Eight Pakistan paramilitary troops, four militants killed in northwest
PESHAWAR: At least eight Pakistani paramilitary troops and four militants were killed in a clash in the country's northwest, senior local officials said Monday, in the latest violence to hit the restive region. 'Armed terrorists attacked a Frontier Corps (FC) convoy with heavy weapons... The fighting continued for several hours,' a senior local security official told AFP. 'Eight FC personnel were killed, and 11 were injured,' he said. Three injured soldiers are in critical condition, while the clash also killed four militants, he added. A senior administration official in the area confirmed the details to AFP. The clash, which lasted for several hours, took place in Daburi, Orakzai district, near the Afghan border. Pakistan has witnessed a sharp rise in violence in its regions bordering Afghanistan since the Taliban returned to power in Kabul in 2021. Islamabad accuses its western neighbor of allowing its soil to be used for attacks against Pakistan — a claim the Taliban denies. More than 320 people, mostly security personnel, have been killed in attacks since the start of the year by armed groups fighting in both Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan, according to an AFP tally.
Arab News
2 days ago
- Politics
- Arab News
Pakistani Islamist militants use drones to target security forces, officials say
ISLAMABAD: Islamist militants in Pakistan have started using commercially acquired quadcopter drones to drop bombs on security forces in the country's northwest, police said, a potentially dangerous development in the volatile region. The use of such drones, which are powered by four rotors allowing for vertical take-off and landing, is worrying the overstretched and under-equipped police force, the frontline against militant attacks, officials said. Two quadcopters sent by the militants targeted a police station earlier this month, killing a woman and injuring three children in a nearby house in Bannu district, said police officer Muhammad Anwar. A drone spotted over another police station on Saturday was shot down with assault rifles, he said. It was armed with a mortar shell, he said. At least eight such drone attacks have targeted police and security forces in Bannu and adjacent areas in the last two and a half months, he said. Regional police chief Sajjad Khan said militants were still trying to master the use of the drones. 'The militants have acquired these modern tools, but they are in the process of experimentation and that's why they can't hit their targets accurately,' he added. The militants are using the quadcopters to drop improvised explosive devices or mortar shells on their targets, five security officials said. They said these explosive devices were packed with ball bearings or pieces of iron. Provincial police chief Zulfiqar Hameed said the police lacked resources to meet the new challenge. 'We do not have equipment to counter the drones,' he told the local Geo News channel on Sunday. 'The militants are better equipped than we are,' he said. No militant group has claimed responsibility for the drone strikes. The main militant group operating in the northwest is the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), also known as the Pakistani Taliban. But they denied using the drones. 'We are trying to acquire this technology,' a TTP spokesman told Reuters. In 2024, Islamist militants carried out 335 countrywide attacks, killing 520 people, according to the Pakistan Institute for Peace Studies, an independent organization. In recent weeks, thousands of residents from the border region have staged protests, aimed against both the attacks by militants and what they fear is an offensive planned by the army, according to a statement issued by the demonstrators. They said they feared that a military operation against the militants would displace them from their homes. A sweeping operation against militants in 2014 was preceded by a forced evacuation of hundreds of thousands of residents. They spent months, and in many cases years, away from their homes. Pakistan's army did not respond to a request for comment on whether an operation was planned.
