Pakistani troops kill 14 militants in raid in northwest region near Afghanistan

ISLAMABAD (AP) - Pakistan's security forces raided a militant hideout and killed 14 insurgents during a shootout in the country’s northwest, the military said Wednesday.

The overnight raid was conducted on the reported presence of Pakistani Taliban belonging to an Indian proxy in North Waziristan, a district in northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, the military said in a statement.

New Delhi did not immediately comment.

Pakistan's military said sanitization operations are being conducted to eliminate Pakistani Taliban groups it says are sponsored by India.

Pakistani authorities often accuse India of backing outlawed Baloch Liberation Army and Pakistani Taliban groups that commit violence in Pakistan.

The accusations have intensified since May in the wake of heightened tensions between the nuclear-armed nations. There has been a cross-border escalation between the countries over the disputed Himalayan region of Kashmir, which is divided between the two but sought in its entirety by each.

The Pakistani Taliban, which calls itself Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan, or TTP, has been emboldened since its allies, the Afghan Taliban, returned to power in 2021. Many TTP leaders and fighters have taken sanctuary in Afghanistan.