2 Pakistani soldiers and 6 militants are killed in a raid in the northwest, the military says

PESHAWAR, Pakistan (AP) — Pakistani security forces raided a militant hideout in a former stronghold of the Pakistani Taliban in the restive northwest, triggering an intense shootout in which two soldiers and six militants were killed, the military said Thursday.

The raid was carried out Wednesday in North Waziristan, a district in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, it said in a statement. The military said a major was among the two soldiers who were killed and its forces were going after other militants in the area “to wipe out the menace of terrorism.”

Authorities often carry out such operations against the Pakistani Taliban, who are also known as Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan, or TTP. The TTP, an ally of the Taliban in neighboring Afghanistan, has stepped up its assaults in the region and elsewhere since the Taliban seized power in Afghanistan in 2021.