By Staff Reporter
ISLAMABAD: Security forces killed nine militants in two separate operations in the restive Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, the military said on Sunday, amid a surge in terrorist attacks that has pushed the country to the second spot on a global index of nations most affected by terrorism.
The operations, conducted on Friday, targeted members of the banned Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan, a group the government refers to as Fitna-al-Khawarij. According to a statement from the military’s media wing, the Inter-Services Public Relations, the militants were “Indian proxy” operatives involved in attacks on security forces, law enforcement agencies and civilians.
The first intelligence-based operation was carried out in Dera Ismail Khan district, where troops engaged a reported militant hideout. “During the conduct of [the] operation, own troops effectively engaged the khwarij’s location, and after an intense fire exchange, four khwarij were sent to hell,” the statement said.
A second operation followed in Bannu district. “In ensuing fire exchange, five more khwarij were effectively neutralised by the security forces,” it added. Weapons and ammunition were recovered from the slain militants, who the military said had been actively engaged in terrorist activities, including targeted killings of innocent civilians.
The announcement comes as Pakistan grapples with a sharp rise in violence. Earlier this year, the country ranked second on the Global Terrorism Index 2025, compiled by the Institute for Economics and Peace, which tracks trends over the past 17 years. Deaths from terrorist attacks increased by 45 percent compared with the previous year, the report found.
Military officials vowed to press ahead with counterterrorism efforts. “Sanitisation operations are being conducted to eliminate any other Indian-sponsored kharji found in the area, as a relentless counterterrorism campaign under vision ‘Azm e Istehkam’ (as approved by Federal Apex Committee on National Action Plan) by the security forces and law enforcement agencies of Pakistan will continue at full pace to wipe out menace of foreign sponsored and supported terrorism from the country,” the statement said.
The operations follow a similar clash last week in which security forces killed 13 militants in Mohmand and Bannu districts of the same province, underscoring the persistent threat from groups like the Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan, which has intensified its activities since the Taliban’s takeover in neighboring Afghanistan in 2021. Pakistan has long accused India of supporting militant groups operating within its borders, a charge New Delhi has repeatedly denied.
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