Rawalpindi, October 16, 2025: Security forces have killed 34 “India-backed” militants in a series of intelligence-based operations (IBOs) across Khyber Pakhtunkhwa over the past three days, the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) said on Thursday.
According to the military’s media wing, the operations were carried out from October 13 to 15 in North Waziristan, South Waziristan, and Bannu districts under the ongoing counterterrorism drive Azm-i-Istehkam.
“From 13-15 October 2025, thirty-four khawarij belonging to Indian-proxy Fitna-al-Khawarij were killed in multiple engagements across Khyber Pakhtunkhwa,” the ISPR stated.
The term Fitna-al-Khawarij is used by the state for militants associated with the banned Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP).
The ISPR said that in the first operation conducted in North Waziristan’s Spinwam area, troops “effectively engaged the terrorists’ location” and killed 18 militants after an intense exchange of fire.
Another IBO was conducted in South Waziristan, where eight more militants were “neutralised” following heavy fighting, while a third encounter in Bannu district resulted in the killing of another eight terrorists.
The military’s media wing added that sanitisation operations were ongoing in the targeted areas “to eliminate any remaining Indian-sponsored elements.”
It further reaffirmed that the Azm-i-Istehkam campaign — approved by the Federal Apex Committee on the National Action Plan (NAP) — would continue “at full pace to wipe out foreign-sponsored and supported terrorism from the country.”
President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif both lauded the armed forces for their successful operations.
In a statement, President Zardari praised the security forces and law enforcement agencies (LEAs) for “improving peace and stability through timely actions.”
Prime Minister Sharif also paid tribute to the troops for “thwarting the nefarious designs of terrorists with professional expertise,” adding that “the counterterrorism campaign will continue with full vigour until the complete eradication of the menace from Pakistan.”
Pakistan has seen a surge in terrorist attacks, particularly in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan, following the collapse of a ceasefire agreement with the TTP in November 2022.
Earlier, ISPR Director General Lt Gen Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry revealed that as of September 15 this year, 10,115 counterterrorism operations had been conducted nationwide, resulting in the killing of 970 militants and the martyrdom of 311 military personnel.
He attributed the recent spike in terrorist activity to factors including India’s alleged use of Afghan soil for sponsoring violence in Pakistan, the availability of modern weapons to militants in Afghanistan, and weak implementation of the National Action Plan.
On October 8, the ISPR reported that security forces neutralised 19 “Indian-sponsored terrorists” in KP’s Orakzai district, though eleven military personnel, including a lieutenant colonel and a major, embraced martyrdom during the operation.
