Pakistani security forces killed five militants in an intelligence-based operation in Bara, in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, and two more in Chagai, Balochistan, security sources said. The Bara group belonged to what the state calls Fitna al Khawarij, its term for the banned Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan, and weapons and ammunition were recovered. Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif praised the operations and vowed to continue them, as violence remains high, with Balochistan the worst-affected province, followed by Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, according to the Pakistan Institute for Conflict and Security Studies (an Islamabad-based research group).