PAKISTANI security forces raided two Pakistani Taliban hideouts near the Afghan border, triggering gun battles that left 23 militants dead, the military said today.

There were no details of any casualties among government troops. 

The raids took place on Wednesday in Kurram, a district in the province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, according to a military statement. The operation followed raids earlier this week across north-western Pakistan that the army said killed 38 militants.

The military identified those killed as “Khawarij,” a term authorities use for militants allegedly backed by Afghanistan and India, including those linked to the banned Pakistani Taliban, a charge that Kabul and New Delhi deny.

The Pakistani Taliban, known in full as Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), is separate from Afghanistan’s Taliban but allied to it.

Many TTP fighters are believed to operate from sanctuaries across the Afghan border, straining relations between Islamabad and Kabul.

A ceasefire between Pakistan and Afghanistan has largely held since October 19, when Qatar brokered the truce after exchanges of gunfire between border posts. 

The clashes erupted after Kabul accused Islamabad of conducting drone strikes in the Afghan capital on October 9 that killed several people.