By Staff Reporter
ISLAMABAD: The security forces have killed 11 militants linked to the banned Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan in two separate operations in the restive northwestern province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, the military said on Saturday.
The operations, conducted on Thursday in the North Waziristan and Kurram districts, both of which border Afghanistan, targeted members of what the military described as the “Indian proxy Fitna al Khawarij,” a term used by Pakistani authorities for the Taliban militants. Weapons and ammunition were recovered from the slain terrorists, who the military said had been involved in attacks on security personnel, law enforcement and civilians.
In North Waziristan, troops acting on intelligence reports engaged the militants in an intense firefight, killing six of them, according to a statement from the Inter-Services Public Relations, the military’s media arm. A second joint operation involving police and security forces in Kurram resulted in the deaths of five more militants. “During the conduct of the operation, troops effectively engaged the khwarij location, and after an intense fire exchange, six khwarij were sent to hell,” the statement said.
The military added that sanitisation sweeps were underway to root out any remaining fighters, vowing that its counterterrorism drive under the banner of “Azm e Istehkam” would proceed “at full pace to wipe out the menace of foreign-sponsored and supported terrorism from the country.” The announcement drew swift praise from Pakistan’s top leaders, who reiterated the government’s commitment to stamping out militancy amid a wave of attacks that has intensified since the Taliban seized power in neighbouring Afghanistan in 2021.
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif commended the “professional capabilities of the armed forces” and declared, “We will continue the war against terrorism until it is completely eliminated.” In a statement from his office, he added that the military and police were locked in daily combat with “enemies of the country,” and that “the entire nation, including myself, stands shoulder to shoulder with the security forces in their unwavering resolve to protect the homeland.”
President Asif Ali Zardari called the role of security forces and law enforcement in safeguarding citizens “commendable and a source of national pride.” He said the battle against the militants would persist until their “complete eradication.”
Pakistan saw an escalating violence in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan provinces, which share porous borders with Afghanistan. Militant groups like the Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan have ramped up assaults on convoys, police stations, checkpoints and government officials, often involving kidnappings and targeted killings.
At a news conference on Monday, Lt. Gen. Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry, the director general of the Inter-Services Public Relations, said the law enforcement agencies — including the army, police, federal constabulary and intelligence units — had carried out 75,175 intelligence-based operations nationwide in 2025. Of those, 14,658 occurred in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, 58,778 in Balochistan and 1,739 elsewhere.
He reported 5,397 terrorism incidents across the country that year, with 3,811 in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, 1,557 in Balochistan and 29 in other regions. Security forces killed 2,597 terrorists in those operations, Lt. Gen. Chaudhry said, noting that civilians and soft targets were deliberately hit and that Afghan militants were involved in all 10 major attacks he detailed.
A report by the Islamabad-based Pak Institute for Peace Studies found that terrorist attacks rose 34 percent in 2025 compared with the previous year, while fatalities from such violence climbed 21 percent. Another think tank, the Pakistan Institute for Conflict and Security Studies, documented a 73 percent spike in combat-related deaths, totalling 3,387 in 2025 — up from 1,950 in 2024. Those figures included 2,115 militants, 664 security personnel, 580 civilians and 28 members of pro-government peace committees.
Pakistani officials have repeatedly accused the Afghan Taliban of harboring militants and allowing cross-border attacks, while also alleging Indian support for groups like the Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan — claims that both Kabul and New Delhi have denied.
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