Pakistan has launched a new military operation aimed at stamping out militancy and tackling a surge in armed violence.

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif's government named the new operation Azm-e-Istehkam, meaning Resolve for Stability in Urdu.

It is the latest in a series of operations that Pakistan's military has launched against militant groups.

The South Asian nation has witnessed a dramatic increase in violent attacks over the past two years.

The attacks have claimed the lives of at least 62 soldiers, including two officers, so far this year. The military said it killed 249 and arrested 396 terrorists in more than 13,000 intelligence-based operations.

Most of these attacks are claimed by the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan — an umbrella group of Islamist militant outfits known by the acronym TTP — which has been waging a war against the state to try to overthrow the government.

The TTP wants to run Pakistan as an Islamic state governed by its own harsh interpretation of Islam.

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The group is ideologically aligned with the Afghan Taliban, who seized power in neighboring Afghanistan in 2021 as US and NATO troops were in the final stages of their pullout from the country after 20 years of war.

Islamabad has since repeatedly accused Kabul of providing them a safe haven on Afghan soil, an allegation the Afghan Taliban has denied.

The mountainous Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province has long been a hive of Islamist militant groups, including the TPP and the local chapter of the "Islamic State" group.

The TTP unilaterally ended a cease-fire with the Pakistani government in November 2022.

Pakistan's new plan is, therefore, expected to focus on fighters crossing over from........

© Deutsche Welle