By Staff Reporter
ISLAMABAD: Security forces killed at least 11 suspected militants and lost one soldier in a series of operations across the restive northwestern province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa on Monday, as the military presses a broad counterinsurgency campaign amid a sharp rise in terrorist attacks.
The clashes underscore the intensifying violence in areas near the Afghan border, where the banned Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan has regrouped since ending a ceasefire with the government in late 2022. Pakistani officials have accused the Afghan Taliban of harboring the militants, a charge Kabul denies, while also alleging Indian support for the insurgents, claims New Delhi rejects.
In one operation in Dera Ismail Khan district’s Kulachi area, the army conducted an intelligence-based raid targeting militants belonging to the “Indian proxy Fitna al Khawarij,” a term the military uses for TTP militants. Troops engaged the suspects in an intense firefight, killing seven, according to a statement from the Inter-Services Public Relations, the military’s media wing.
“During the conduct of [the] operation, own troops effectively engaged the khwarij location and after an intense fire exchange, seven khwarij were sent to hell,” the statement said. Naik Yasir Khan, a 34-year-old soldier from Mardan district, was martyred in the battle. The military described him as having “fought gallantly [and] paid the ultimate sacrifice.” Weapons and ammunition were recovered from the dead militants, who had been involved in terrorist activities in the area, the statement added.
A sanitization operation was underway to clear any remaining threats, part of the broader “Azm-i-Istehkam” counterterrorism vision approved by the federal government’s apex committee on the National Action Plan. The military vowed that the campaign by security forces and law enforcement agencies “will continue at full pace to wipe out the menace of foreign-sponsored and supported terrorism from the country.”
Separately, in Bannu district, a joint police and security force operation targeted a TTP faction led by Hafiz Gul Bahadur, killing four suspects. The militants were allegedly linked to the assassination of an assistant commissioner in North Waziristan, as well as recruiting fighters, carrying out targeted killings, attacking police checkpoints and stations, and conducting kidnappings for ransom, police said.
Deputy Inspector General of Police for the Bannu region, Sajjad Khan, hailed the raid as a blow to insurgents. “This is a clear message for anti-state elements that there is no safe haven for terrorists in this country,” he said. “They will not be allowed to hide anywhere. Police and security forces are fully committed to countering terrorism.” Khan added that “anti-state elements will be targeted one by one and completely eliminated. All possible measures will continue to ensure the safety of the public.”
The operations come on the heels of similar actions over the weekend. On Dec. 12 and 13, the military killed 13 militants in two intelligence-based raids — one in Mohmand district and another in Bannu, according to an army statement.“ On 12-13 December 2025, thirteen khwarij belonging to Indian proxy Fitna Al Khwarij were killed in two separate engagements in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province,” the statement said.
Last month, forces eliminated 22 militants in another Bannu operation. The surge in violence has placed Pakistan second on the Global Terrorism Index 2025, published by the Institute for Economics and Peace, with deaths from terrorist attacks rising 45 percent from the previous year. The index tracks trends over 17 years. Bannu and neighboring districts, long hotspots for counterinsurgency efforts, have seen repeated militant strikes.
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