Peshawar, Nov 30 (PTI) At least seven militants were killed on Saturday during a joint operation by security forces, supported by helicopter gunships, targeting militant hideouts in Pakistan's restive Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, police said.

The operation, conducted at Bakka Khel area in Bannu district, was part of a broader response to the fresh wave of attacks against security forces in the province's southern districts.

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Seventeen terrorists were killed on Friday in two separate intelligence-based operations in Bannu and North Waziristan districts.

In the Baka Khel area of Bannu, 12 terrorists linked to the Hafiz Gulbahadur group were killed as helicopter gunships targeted their compound. In another operation in the Hasso Khel area of Mir Ali in North Waziristan, five militants were killed.

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A significant cache of weapons and ammunition was recovered during the operations, with security forces releasing images of the neutralized militants.

Security forces have deployed reinforcements, and the operations are expected to continue.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)