Pakistani security forces kill 6 militants in twin raids in volatile northwest near Afghanistan

PESHAWAR, Pakistan (AP) — Pakistan’s military says its security forces have killed six militants in twin raids in the volatile northwest region bordering Afghanistan. In a statement Wednesday, it said five militants were killed in the first raid in Dera Ismail Khan district in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province. Another militant was killed in the second raid in a former stronghold of the Pakistani Taliban in the northwest. It provided no further details about the slain men. However, such operations often target the Pakistani Taliban, which are a separate group but a close ally of the Afghan Taliban who seized power in Afghanistan in 2021.