In a statement, the military says that intelligence reports suggest that the killed militiamen were "Khwarij" – a term used by the Pakistani government for the Pakistani Taliban.
The military claims that the killed rebels were sent by their "foreign masters" to carry out high-profile terrorist attacks in Pakistan.
The rebels were discovered and killed near the Pakistani Taliban's former stronghold in the northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province along the border with Afghanistan.
Pakistan has seen a significant increase in deadly violence over the past few months, mainly attributed to the Pakistani Taliban.
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