Six TTP militants killed in Pakistan's Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province

Peshawar: Pakistan's security forces gunned down six Tehreek-i-Taliban militants on Thursday in an intelligence-based operation in the country's restive Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, police said.

The operation was jointly conducted by the Counter Terrorism Department and the police in the Lakki Marwat district of the province after information on the presence of terrorists in the area was received.

According to a police official, the militants were planning an attack at the Abbassa Khattak police post in the district.

Acting on the tip-off, an operation was launched, in which six TTP militants were killed following a shootout that ensued between the security squad and the terrorists.

Weapons, ammunition, and grenades were recovered from the possession of those killed.

The Counter Terrorism Department has launched a search operation in the area.

Outlawed TTP has increased the attacks in recent months and has apparently become stronger since the takeover of Afghanistan by the Taliban.

The militant group, set up as an umbrella group of several militant outfits in 2007, called off a ceasefire with the federal government and ordered its militants to stage terrorist attacks across the country.

The TTP was reportedly behind last month's suicide attack on a mosque here in which more than 100 people, mostly police personnel were killed.

The group, which is believed to be close to Al-Qaeda, has been blamed for several deadly attacks across Pakistan, including an attack on army headquarters in 2009, assaults on military bases, and the 2008 bombing of the Marriott Hotel in Islamabad.

In 2014, the Pakistani Taliban stormed the Army Public School in the northwestern city of Peshawar, killing at least 150 people, including 131 students.