ISLAMABAD — Pakistani security forces killed 30 militants in several operations near the Afghan frontier in recent days, the army said Thursday, after a suicide bombing last week killed 12 people in Islamabad.

 

The militants belonged to the Pakistani Taliban or its affiliated groups, the military said in a statement, accusing archfoe India of backing them.

 

Twenty-three militants were killed in raids in the Kurram district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province on Wednesday, the military said.

 

In a subsequent statement, the military said a further seven militants were killed in three separate operations in Mohmand, Lakki Marwat and Tank districts in the same province on November 18-19.

 

"Pakistan will continue at full pace to wipe out [the] menace of foreign sponsored and supported terrorism from the country," the military said.

 

Islamabad has routinely accused Kabul of harbouring militant groups, particularly the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), that stage deadly attacks in Pakistan.

 

The raids come after a suicide bombing outside a court in Islamabad killed 12 people and wounded dozens last week, which Pakistan said was planned from Afghanistan.

 

A faction of the Pakistani Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack.

 

Relations between Pakistan and Afghanistan have sharply deteriorated, with cross-border clashes last month prompting the worst fighting in years.

 

More than 70 people were killed on both sides in their week-long conflict, and the border remains closed.

 

The South Asian neighbours agreed to a fragile ceasefire but failed to finalise its terms after several rounds of talks, each blaming the other for the impasse.