Shootout in NW Pakistan leaves 2 soldiers, 3 militants dead

PESHAWAR, Pakistan (AP) — Security forces raided a militant hideout in northwest Pakistan on Tuesday, triggering an intense shootout that killed two soldiers and three militants, the military said.

According to a military statement, security forces launched a search operation following the shootout in the district of Kurram in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, which borders Afghanistan.

It provided no further details, and the identity and nationality of the slain militants were not immediately known. Kurram, a former stronghold of the Pakistani Taliban, is located near the Afghan border.

Since 2017, Pakistan has been fencing the country’s northwestern regions along the border to contain the movement of militants and to curb smuggling and illegal border crossings. Pakistan says it has completed 91% of the fence along the 2,611-kilometer (1,622-mile) boundary with Afghanistan known as the Durand Line.