Security forces have killed at least 15 militants, including a key ringleader linked to what officials describe as the Indian-backed Fitna al-Khawarij network, in two intelligence-based operations in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, the military said on Tuesday.
According to the Inter-Services Public Relations, the operations were conducted between November 15 and 16 in Dera Ismail Khan and North Waziristan. Fitna al-Khawarij is the term used by the state for members of the banned Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan.
The military said the first operation took place in the Kulachi area of Dera Ismail Khan, where troops engaged a group of militants and killed ten of them, including their ringleader, Alam Mehsud. In a separate operation in Datta Khel, North Waziristan, five more militants were killed.
The statement added that sanitisation efforts were continuing in both areas to track down any remaining members of the network. It said the ongoing counter-terrorism campaign under the government’s Azm-i-Istehkam framework would continue “at full pace” to eradicate “foreign-sponsored and supported terrorism.”
President Asif Ali Zardari praised the operations, crediting the killing of the ringleader to the “successful strategy” of security forces. He warned that political attempts to distract from national unity against terrorism would not be tolerated. Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif also commended the troops, saying the state remained determined to eliminate all forms of terrorism.
The operations follow a series of recent engagements in which 24 militants were killed in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan last week. Pakistan has witnessed a sharp rise in militant attacks since the Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan ended its ceasefire with the government in late 2022.
Separately, police said a suicide bomber detonated himself near a police station in Bannu on Tuesday. No other casualties were reported, and an investigation is underway.