PESHAWAR: At least eight militants, including two Afghan nationals belonging to the banned Tariq Gidar group — an affiliate of the proscribed Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) — were killed on the second day of an ongoing operation against militants in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Darra Adamkhel area on Saturday, security sources said.

A total of 13 militants have now been killed in the operation, with five killed on Friday, when the operation commenced.

Sources added that the operation was launched on the reported presence of a group of militants in the area, adding that the offensive was ongoing and that the area had been cordoned off.

“The dead militants include Daud from Zorh Kalay, along with Hamza, Qari Zeenatullah and Qari Lawangin,” the sources said.

They added that Afghan nationals Zeenatullah and Lawangin were among the dead, while the identities of the other dead militants were being ascertained.

“Security forces have cordoned off the area, and the operation is still underway,” they said, adding that the operation would continue until the last terrorist was eliminated.

The TTP’s Tariq Gidar group, named after militant commander Tariq Afridi from Darra Adamkhel, had been active in the area and involved in militant activities. Afridi was killed in 2012, reportedly by his relatives in Khyber.

Darra Adamkhel borders KP’s Kohat and Peshawar districts and is located south of the provincial capital. The area has witnessed several terrorist attacks on security forces and convoys, as well as military operations.

There has been a resurgence in terrorism in Pakistan since the Afghan Taliban returned to power in Kabul in 2021.

Islamabad has repeatedly urged the Taliban administration to dismantle terrorist sanctuaries on Afghan soil, particularly those linked to the banned TTP. Officials say those appeals have gone unheeded.

Earlier this month, security forces killed five terrorists in two separate engagements in KP’s Tank and Dera Ismail Khan districts. In early April, eight terrorists were killed along the Pak-Afghan border in North Waziristan.