By Staff Reporter
ISLAMABAD: Security forces have killed at least three militants in two separate engagements in the northwestern province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, the military said Monday, highlighting what it described as continued involvement by Afghan nationals in attacks inside Pakistan.
In a statement, the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), the military’s media wing, said troops detected the movement of a group of khwarij — a term the government uses for militants of the banned Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) — near the border with Afghanistan in North Waziristan district. “Movement of a group of khwarij, opposite general area Esham, North Waziristan District, who were trying to infiltrate through Pakistan-Afghanistan border, was picked up by the security forces,” the ISPR said.
Troops “effectively engaged” the group, the statement said. “As a result of precise and skillful engagement, two khwarij belonging to Indian proxy, Fitna al Khawarij were sent to hell.” One of the militants killed was identified as Qasim, an Afghan national who had served in the Afghan Border Police, according to the ISPR.
In a separate intelligence-based operation in Tank district, also in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, forces killed another militant identified as Ikramuddin, also known as Abu Dajana, who was also an Afghan national. “These incidents reveal continued involvement of Afghan nationals in numerous terrorist activities against innocent civilians and security forces inside Pakistan,” the ISPR said.
The military renewed its call for Afghanistan’s interim government to tighten border controls. “Pakistan has repeatedly been asking Interim Afghan Government to ensure effective border management on their side of the border and is expected to fulfil its obligations and deny the use of Afghan soil by Khwarij and involvement of its citizens in terrorism inside Pakistan,” the statement said.
The operations come amid a sharp rise in militant violence in Pakistan, particularly in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and neighboring Balochistan province, where police, law enforcement and security forces have been frequent targets. The surge began after the TTP ended a ceasefire with the government in 2022. In July, Pakistani authorities officially designated the TTP as Fitna al Khawarij, requiring all institutions to refer to its members as khariji, or outcast, in connection with attacks on the country.
The ISPR said security forces remain “resolute and unwavering in their commitment to defend the nation’s frontiers.” A sanitization operation was underway in the area to eliminate any “other Indian sponsored Kharji,” the statement added.
Last week, Pakistani forces killed Amjad, also known as Mazahim, a deputy chief of the TTP, in another intelligence-based operation. Amjad served under TTP leader Noor Wali Mehsud and headed the group’s Rehbari Shura, or leadership council, according to the ISPR. The latest clashes underscore longstanding tensions between Pakistan and Afghanistan over border security and the use of Afghan territory by militant groups. Islamabad has repeatedly accused Kabul of failing to rein in the TTP, which shares ideological ties with the Afghan Taliban but operates independently against Pakistani targets.
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