Dozens of Taliban Killed in Pakistan After Peshawar Massacre

Dozens of Taliban militants were killed by Pakistani military in crackdowns across the country on Friday, following the attack on a school in Peshawar earlier this week.

MOSCOW, December 19 (Sputnik) – Pakistan's military says it has killed dozens of militants in the tribal area of the country. Air strikes and ground operations were carried out in the aftermath of this week's Peshawar school massacre, reports AFP.

Security forces killed 32 militants who were en route to the Afghan border in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province. Pakistani forces report to have killed eight more Taliban militants in southwestern Baluchistan province.

The military said in a statement that security forces attacked the insurgents in the Tirah area of Khyber, where the Taliban and members of other militant factions were hiding from an army offensive.

"Reportedly a group of terrorists was moving from Tirah towards Pak-Afghan border. Security forces ambushed the moving group at Wurmagai and Spurkot, killing 32 terrorists in exchange of fire," the statement said, adding that three security personnel had also been injured.

The Associated Press also reported that Pakistan's military said a further 27 militants had been killed in a separate operation on Thursday, including an Uzbek commander.

This week several Taliban gunmen carried out an attack on the Army Public School in Peshawar on Tuesday, killing 148 people, including 132 children, in the country’s’ most heinous terror attack.

Taliban militants claimed that the assault was in retaliation for the killing of its fighters and their families in an ongoing military operation by NATO forces and the Pakistani army, in the North Waziristan tribal area.