Rawalpindi, December 15, 2025: A Pakistan Army soldier was martyred during a counter-insurgency operation in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Dera Ismail Khan district on Monday, in which seven terrorists were killed, the military’s media wing said.
According to the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), security forces conducted an intelligence-based operation (IBO) in the Kulachi area of DI Khan on reports of the presence of terrorists belonging to the Indian proxy Fitna al Khawarij—a term used by the state for militants affiliated with the banned Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP).
“During the conduct of the operation, own troops effectively engaged the khwarij location and after an intense fire exchange, seven khwarij were sent to hell,” the ISPR statement said.
During the exchange of fire, Naik Yasir Khan, 34, a resident of Mardan, embraced martyrdom after “having fought gallantly and paid the ultimate sacrifice,” the statement added.
The military said weapons and ammunition were recovered from the killed terrorists, who were involved in multiple terrorist activities in the area.
The ISPR said a sanitisation operation is under way to eliminate any remaining militants in the area, adding that the counter-terrorism campaign under the vision ‘Azm-i-Istehkam’, approved by the Federal Apex Committee under the National Action Plan, will continue at full pace to eradicate foreign-sponsored terrorism from the country.
The development comes a day after security forces killed 13 terrorists in two separate intelligence-based operations in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, the ISPR said on Sunday. According to the statement, the operations were carried out in Mohmand district and Bannu, targeting militants affiliated with Fitna al Khawarij.
Earlier this year, Pakistan ranked second on the Global Terrorism Index 2025, which reported a 45 per cent increase in deaths from terrorist attacks compared to the previous year. The index, published by the Institute for Economics and Peace, tracks global terrorism trends over the past 17 years.
Last month, security forces had also eliminated 22 terrorists during an operation in Bannu district, according to official statements.
