ISLAMABAD

At least 14 suspected militants were killed in operations in Pakistan's North Waziristan district bordering Afghanistan, the military said on Wednesday.

An intelligence-based operation was carried out in the Datta Khel area of the North Waziristan district near the Afghanistan border on the reported presence of militants, Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), the media wing of the Pakistan Army, said in a statement.

During the operation, security forces engaged with militants, and 14 of them were killed, it said.

North Waziristan and South Waziristan—once dubbed the heartland of militancy—are among seven former semi-autonomous tribal districts where the army has mounted a series of operations since 2014 to eliminate the TTP, or Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan, an umbrella organization of several militant groups operating in Pakistan.

On Tuesday, the Pakistani army said that at least seven suspected militants were killed in operations in Pakistan's southwestern Balochistan province.

In May, at least 177 people, including 70 suspected militants, 50 civilians, and 57 security personnel, were killed in attacks and operations across the country.