By Staff Reporter
ISLAMABAD: Security forces have killed 13 militants affiliated with a banned terrorist group in two separate operations in the restive Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, the military announced on Sunday, amid a continuing surge in attacks that has plagued the region.
The operations, conducted overnight Friday into Saturday, targeted members of Indian-backed Fitna Al Khwarij, a label applied to insurgents from the outlawed Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP). The military’s Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) wing detailed the clashes in a statement, emphasising the forces’ commitment to eradicating foreign-sponsored terrorism. “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 ISPR said.
The first raid unfolded in Mohmand district, a rugged area along the Afghan border long known as a militant stronghold. Acting on intelligence reports of terrorist activity, troops moved in and confronted the suspects. “During the conduct of [the] operation, own troops effectively engaged the khwarij’s location, and after an intense fire exchange, seven khwarij were sent to hell,” the statement said.
Hours later, a second operation targeted militants in Bannu district, farther south in the province. There, security forces “neutralised six more terrorists,” according to the ISPR. Follow-up sweeps were underway in both areas to root out any remaining threats, the military added, framing the actions as part of a broader national strategy. “Sanitisation operations are being conducted to eliminate any other Indian sponsored kharji found in the area as a relentless counterterrorism campaign under [the] vision ‘Azm e Istehkam’ (as approved by Federal Apex Committee on National Action Plan) by 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 killings come against a backdrop of escalating violence in the northwest, where insurgents have ramped up assaults on security personnel since the TTP ended a ceasefire with the government in November 2022. The group, which seeks to impose strict Islamic rule, pledged at the time to target police, soldiers and other law enforcement figures. Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and neighboring Balochistan have borne the brunt of the attacks, with bombings, ambushes and shootouts claiming scores of lives among forces and civilians alike.
Last month, security forces reported eliminating 22 terrorists in a major operation in Bannu, underscoring the district’s role as a hotspot in the ongoing conflict. Pakistan has repeatedly accused India of fueling the insurgency through proxies, a charge New Delhi denies. The TTP, formed in 2007, has ties to Afghan Taliban and has been responsible for some of the country’s deadliest attacks, including the 2014 school massacre in Peshawar that killed more than 140 people, mostly children. Islamabad has accused Kabul of harbouring terrorists who target Pakistan on its soil, a claim the Taliban government rejected.
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