Pakistan, Islamabad: Pakistani security forces have intensified their campaign against insurgents, resulting in the deaths of 37 militants over the past week. The raids targeted insurgent hideouts in a former stronghold of the Pakistani Taliban.

In a separate incident in the country's volatile southwest, troops killed five additional insurgents. The escalation comes in response to a recent wave of violence in Balochistan, where over 50 people were killed in multiple attacks on security personnel and civilians by insurgents.

According to the military, a significant operation in Tirah Valley, located in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province near the Afghan border, led to the death of a dozen militants overnight. This brings the total number of insurgents killed in this area since August 20 to 37.

In another statement, the military reported that five insurgents involved in recent fatal attacks in Balochistan were also killed in three separate operations.

The violence in Balochistan, claimed by the banned Balochistan Liberation Army, has raised concerns ahead of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization summit, which Pakistan is set to host in October. Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi suggested that the attacks aimed to disrupt the summit, though he did not provide supporting evidence. Balochistan continues to experience ongoing insurgency, with various separatist groups targeting security forces in their push for independence from the central government.