Peshawar, April 25 -- Pakistani security personnel shot dead 22 alleged militants in clashes in the northwest this week, the military said on Friday, with a child also killed in the crossfire. On Tuesday "a joint military operation was conducted by security forces and law enforcement agencies" that resulted in "intense exchange of fire" in which the militants were killed, a military media wing statement said. A ten-year-old child was killed during the exchange of fire, which took place in Khyber district near the border with Afghanistan. Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif "expressed sorrow at the martyrdom of a 10-year-old child in the unprovoked firing by the terrorists", according to a statement from his office. Attacks, many claimed by the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan armed group, have escalated in recent years, especially in the provinces bordering Afghanistan. AFP...