By Staff Reporter
ISLAMABAD: security forces killed 10 militants, including a wanted ringleader with a bounty on his head, in two separate operations in the country’s restive border regions, the military said on Thursday, as violence flared anew in the northwest with clashes that wounded three soldiers and at least 20 civilians.
The operations, conducted on Wednesday in the districts of Dera Ismail Khan in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province and Kalat in Balochistan Province, targeted groups that Islamabad accuses of receiving foreign support, including from India and Afghanistan. They underscored the persistent threat of insurgency in areas long plagued by militant activity, even as the country grapples with a sharp rise in attacks since the Taliban’s return to power in Kabul in 2021.
In the Dera Ismail Khan operation, troops engaged militants in the Kulachi area after receiving intelligence on their presence, according to the military’s Inter-Services Public Relations wing. “During the conduct of [the] operation, own troops effectively engaged the khawarij location,” the statement said. “Resultantly, two khawarij, including kharji ring leader Dilawar, were sent to hell.” Dilawar, described as a high-value target affiliated with the Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan — which the military often labels “khwarij,” invoking an Islamic historical term for extremists who declare other Muslims apostates — had been wanted for multiple attacks on security forces and civilians. The government had placed a bounty of Rs4 million rupees on him.
Weapons and ammunition were recovered from the site, the military said, adding that the militants “remained actively involved in terrorist activities against the security forces and civilians.”
Separately, in Kalat, forces raided a location based on reports of militants from what the government calls Fitna al Hindustan, a designation for Balochistan-based groups that Islamabad alleges are backed by India as proxies to destabilize the region. “The troops effectively engaged the terrorists, and after an intense exchange of fire, eight Indian-sponsored terrorists were sent to hell,” the military statement said. Weapons, ammunition and explosives were seized from the militants, who were said to have been involved in numerous attacks in the area. Sanitization sweeps were underway in both locations to root out any remaining threats, the military added, vowing that the counterterrorism drive under the banner of “Azm-e-Istehkam” — a national vision for stability — would press on “at full pace to wipe out foreign-sponsored and supported terrorism from the country.”
The killings followed an earlier operation this month in Kalat, where 12 militants were slain, and came against a backdrop of escalating violence. Pakistan ranked second on the Global Terrorism Index for 2025, with deaths from terrorist attacks up 45 percent from the previous year, according to the Institute for Economics and Peace. A report from the Islamabad-based Center for Research and Security Studies noted a surge in militant strikes and counteroperations in the third quarter of the year.
Tensions with Afghanistan have also intensified, with cross-border incursions blamed for recent clashes. Last week, Pakistan summoned an Afghan diplomat to protest Kabul’s alleged harboring of Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan fighters, days after four soldiers were killed in North Waziristan. The Foreign Office warned that Pakistan “reserved the right to defend its sovereignty and protect its citizens” from threats originating across the border.
Even as the military touted its successes, fresh unrest erupted on Thursday in North Waziristan’s Mir Ali subdivision, where militants attacked a security convoy on the main highway, sparking an hour-long firefight. Security officials said the assailants were from Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan operatives. The clash, which began around noon, spread to nearby areas including Hasokhel, Muski and Ippi. Mortar shells struck residential homes, wounding 20 civilians, among them women and children, according to local accounts. Three security personnel were also injured and taken to a hospital. A loud explosion rocked the Mir Ali-Khaisoor Road near Muski, and a checkpoint at Hasokhel Bridge came under heavy fire.
Security forces sealed off Mir Ali Bazaar and surrounding zones, halting all commercial activity and confining residents indoors amid sporadic gunfire that sowed panic. The Bannu-Miranshah highway was shut at the Khajori checkpoint, stranding vehicles in long lines. Despite the peril, locals waving white flags ferried the wounded to medical facilities. Dr. Munir Aslam, medical superintendent at Mir Ali’s district headquarters hospital, said 20 injured arrived for treatment, with seven in critical condition transferred to Bannu’s Khalifa Gul Nawaz Hospital.
Malik Nisar Ali, president of the Awami National Party’s North Waziristan chapter, voiced alarm over the civilian toll. “Unfortunately, a mortar shell also landed on my house, injuring three members of my family,” he said. “Targeting innocent civilians, especially women and children, is deeply tragic and unacceptable.” He called on authorities to safeguard noncombatants and pursue enduring peace.
A search operation was launched as tensions lingered into the evening. Mir Ali has seen repeated violence, including a foiled suicide bombing on a military camp in October that left four militants dead, and the recent destruction of two government schools — one for boys with over 600 students, another for more than 250 girls — by explosives.
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