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Pakistan forces kill 62 militants in aftermath of school attack

A total of 62 militants were killed in military operations Thursday and Friday in northwestern Pakistan.

By JC Finley
Pakistani soldiers take a position near the site of an attack by Taliban gunmen on a school in Peshawar on Dec. 16, 2014. Photo by Sajjad Ali Queshi/UPI
1 of 3 | Pakistani soldiers take a position near the site of an attack by Taliban gunmen on a school in Peshawar on Dec. 16, 2014. Photo by Sajjad Ali Queshi/UPI | License Photo

ISLAMABAD, Dec. 19 (UPI) -- Pakistan's military has increased counterterrorism operations following an insurgent attack on a school in Peshawar that killed 148 students and staff members.

A total of 62 militants were killed in military operations Thursday and Friday in northwestern Pakistan.

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Security forces killed 12 militants in two locations Thursday in the Khyber tribal area based on an intelligence tip. "There was an intense battle," said Shahab Ali Sha, an administration official in the area.

Another 18 militants were killed in a separate hourlong battle in the Khyber region late Thursday.

On Friday, security forces ambushed a group of militants en route from Tirah in Khyber toward the border with Afghanistan. "Thirty-two terrorists were killed in exchange of fire. Three security forces persons were injured. Fleeing terrorists left behind bodies of their accomplices," the military's communications wing, Inter Services Public Relations, said in a statement.

ISPR's Gen. Asim Bajwal tweeted Friday that "front-line troops participating in ongoing ground action against terrorists" would receive a visit by the Army chief.

Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif vowed in the aftermath of Tuesday's deadly Peshawar school attack "to continue the war against terrorism till the last terrorist is eliminated."

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