Troops kill 54 rebels attempting to infiltrate Pak-Afghan border

This is the first time that Pak forces killed terrorists in such a high number in a single day: Minister; President, PM laud army for eliminating the insurgents; terror suspects in Punjab to wear electronic tracking devices for monitoring.

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Pakistani soldiers killed 54 militants who had tried to enter the country by crossing its northwestern border with Afghanistan, the military said on Sunday.

"Movement of a large group... who were trying to infiltrate through Pakistan-Afghanistan border was detected by the security forces," the army said in a statement, adding that the militants were aiming "to undertake high profile terrorist activities inside Pakistan" and all 54 had been killed.

The military said that intelligence reports indicated that the killed militants were "Khwarij" - a phrase the government uses for the Pakistani Taliban.

Without directly blaming anyone, the military said that the slain insurgents had been sent by their "foreign masters" to carry out high-profile attacks inside Pakistan.

The insurgents were spotted and killed near the former stronghold of Pakistan Taliban near North Waziristan, a district in northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province along the Afghan border.

"This is the first time during the ongoing operations against terrorists that Pakistani forces killed terrorists in such a high number in a single day," Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi told reporters. He praised security forces for carrying out a successful operation against militants and foiling possible attacks by them in the country.