Pakistani security forces killed at least 13 militants in operations along the Afghanistan border in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, the military’s media wing said on Friday. The Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) identified the fighters as Fitna-al-Khwarij and said they were neutralised in Mohmand and North Waziristan districts on April 28 and 29. The state uses the term Fitna al-Khawarij to refer to the banned Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP).
In Mohmand district, security forces detected a group trying to infiltrate from Afghanistan and engaged them, killing eight militants, the ISPR said. In North Waziristan, troops foiled a separate infiltration attempt and, after an intense exchange of fire, eliminated five militants. Sanitisation operations were underway in both areas to clear any remaining threat.
The ISPR said the counter-terrorism campaign under the vision ‘Azm-e-Istehkam,’ approved by the Federal Apex Committee on the National Action Plan, will continue at full tempo. It also urged the Afghan Taliban regime to prevent the use of Afghan territory by these groups and to stop its citizens from being involved in attacks inside Pakistan.
The statement came amid a wider rise in militant violence across Pakistan in 2025. Research from the Islamabad-based Pak Institute for Peace Studies found terrorist attacks increased by 34 percent last year and terrorism-related deaths rose by 21 percent year on year. Khyber Pakhtunkhwa experienced a significant uptick: the Centre for Research and Security Studies’ Annual Security Report 2025 recorded fatalities in the province rising from 1,620 in 2024 to 2,331 in 2025.
