At least sixteen militants were killed as Pakistani security forces ambushed a large group of terrorists in Orakzai and Khyber tribal agencies bordering Afghanistan, the military said on Saturday.
"Security forces ambushed a large assembly of terrorists on the border of Orakzai and Khyber agency in Khazana Kandao and Shirin Darra. An intense battle took place, in which 16 terrorists were killed and 20 injured," a press release by Pakistani military's Inter Services Public Relations (ISPR) said.
According to ISPR, fleeing terrorists left behind nine dead bodies of their accomplices while two seriously wounded terrorists were apprehended. Four soldiers were injured in exchange of fire and immediately shifted to a military hospital.
Orakzai and Khyber are among Pakistan's seven semi-autonomous tribal regions in the northwest governed by tribal laws and facing militants' insurgency. The ambush was a continuation of military's offensive against foreign and local militants in the tribal region that was intensified following a brutal attack on Peshawar's Army Public School that killed 149 people, including 132 children.