By Staff Reporter
ISLAMABAD: Security forces killed 14 militants in three separate operations across the restive provinces of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan, the military said on Saturday, as the government vowed to press ahead with a broad counterterrorism campaign amid a surge in attacks.
The operations, described by the military as intelligence-based, targeted groups that Pakistan accuses of being proxies for Indian-sponsored terrorism. In a statement, the Inter-Services Public Relations, the military’s media wing, said nine militants belonging to the “Indian proxy Fitna al Khawarij” — a term the state uses for members of the banned Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan, were killed on Friday.
An operation in the district of Tank, in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, focused on a reported militant hide-out. “During the conduct of [the] operation, own troops effectively engaged the khawarij location, and after an intense fire exchange, seven khawarij were sent to hell,” the statement added.
In a separate action in the neighboring district of Lakki Marwat, “two more khawarij were effectively neutralised by security forces,” the military said.“Sanitisation operations are being conducted to eliminate any other Indian-sponsored kharji found in the area,” the statement continued.
Later on Saturday, the military reported a third operation in the Dera Bugti district of Balochistan, where five militants from “Fitna al Hindustan” — a designation for Balochistan-based insurgent groups that Pakistan links to Indian efforts to destabilise the country — were killed. Weapons and ammunition were recovered from the slain militants in all three instances, according to the military. The eliminated terrorists “remained actively involved in numerous terrorist activities against security forces, law enforcement agencies and target killing of innocent civilians.”
The operations come as Pakistan intensifies its efforts under Azm-i-Istehkam, a counterterrorism initiative aimed at eradicating what the military calls “foreign-sponsored and supported terrorism from the country.” The military said the campaign “would continue at full pace to wipe out the menace.”
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif hailed the actions, saying in a statement posted by the state broadcaster PTV on the social media platform X that security forces were making big gains against terrorism under Azm-i-Istehkam. “The nation stands with security forces against terrorism. We are determined to root out terrorism from the country,” he said.
The killings are the latest in a series of confrontations in a region that has seen a sharp increase in militant activity. Pakistan has witnessed an uptick in terror activities, especially in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan, after the TTP ended its ceasefire with the government in November 2022. Earlier this week, security forces killed seven terrorists in two separate operations in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s North Waziristan district.
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