ISLAMABAD (AP) — Pakistani security forces killed 19 insurgents in three separate raids on militant hideouts in northwest Pakistan bordering Afghanistan, the military said Tuesday. Three soldiers also died in the shooting.

Troops killed 16 insurgents in two separate raids in the northwestern Peshawar and Mohmand districts in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, the military said in a statement. Another three insurgents were killed in the third assault in Karak, also in the same province, it said.

The military said that three soldiers were killed in the ensuing shoutouts.

President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif praised troops for eliminating the insurgents. In separate statements, they also paid tributes to the “martyred” soldiers.

In recent months, Pakistan has stepped up intelligence-based operations against the Pakistani Taliban, which has become emboldened since the Afghan Taliban seized power in Afghanistan in 2021. The TTP is a separate group, but a close ally of the Afghan Taliban.