<div style="text-align: justify; "><b><span style="font-size: 1rem;">Five Pakistani soldiers were killed in gunbattles with Islamist militants in the country’s northwest bordering Afghanistan on Monday, the Pakistan Army said.</span><br></b></div><div style="text-align: justify; "><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The statement said the deaths were in addition to two other soldiers, including an officer, who were killed the previous day in an operation against the militants on the outskirts of the northwestern city of Peshawar.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">It said a total of 23 militants had also been killed in the last two days in what it described as three intelligence-based operations on their hideouts in northwest Pakistan close to the Afghan border.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The militants were “involved in numerous terrorist activities against the security forces as well as the innocent civilians,” the army said.</div><div style="text-align: justify;">The five soldiers were killed in Khyber district, it said.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The military didn’t identify what group the militants belonged to.</div><div style="text-align: justify;">The lawless tribal regions along the Afghan border have long been a safe haven for the Islamist and sectarian militants who operate under an umbrella group called Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP).</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The TTP aims to overthrow the government and replace it with a harsh brand of Islamic law.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Islamabad says TTP leaders have taken refuge in neighboring Afghanistan where they run camps to train Islamist militants to launch attacks inside Pakistan.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Kabul has previously said rising violence in Pakistan is a domestic issue for Islamabad.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Relations between Pakistan and Afghanistan have soured in recent months. Islamabad says Kabul is not doing enough to tackle militant groups targeting Pakistan.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">On Sunday, Pakistan said it had arrested 11 Islamist militants who were involved in a suicide bombing that killed five Chinese engineers, alleging the attack was planned by the TTP on Afghan soil, a charge Kabul has previously denied. - Reuters&nbsp;</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify; ">bnbd/fas</div>