On Tuesday “a joint military operation was conducted by security forces and law enforcement agencies” that resulted in “intense exchange of fire” in which the militants were killed, a military media wing statement said.

A ten-year-old child was killed during the exchange of fire, which took place in Khyber district near the border with Afghanistan.

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif “expressed sorrow at the martyrdom of a 10-year-old child in the unprovoked firing by the terrorists”, according to a statement from his office.

Attacks, many claimed by the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) armed group, have escalated in recent years, especially in the provinces bordering Afghanistan.

Pakistan has accused Afghanistan of providing a safe haven to militants since the Afghan Taliban returned to governing the country in 2021, which Kabul has repeatedly denied.

The assertions have frayed the relationship between the neighbours and led to regular border clashes.

Pakistan’s military this year launched a wave of strikes that the defence minister called “open war” in Afghanistan following a string of deadly suicide bombings.