Khyber Pakhtunkhwa — Security forces killed 13 terrorists in an intelligence-based operation (IBO) in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Dera Ismail Khan district, the military’s media wing said on Wednesday.

According to the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), the operation was conducted in the Daraban area after reports of the presence of militants belonging to an alleged Indian-backed proxy, Fitna al Khwari, a term used by the state for the banned Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP).

“During the conduct of [the] operation, troops effectively engaged the khwarij location, and 13 Indian-sponsored khwarij were sent to hell,” the ISPR stated. Weapons and ammunition were seized from the slain militants, who were linked to a December 2023 suicide bombing in Daraban and the abduction and killing of civilians and officials. A sanitisation operation is under way to clear the area of any remaining threats.

The incident follows a similar IBO in DI Khan’s Kulachi area on September 20, in which seven terrorists, including three Afghan nationals, were killed.

In a separate incident, the Pakistani military said one militant was neutralised and another injured in the Tirah Valley near the Pakistan-Afghanistan border. The slain militant, identified as Junaidullah, had opened fire on a Pakistani post. Security forces recovered an Afghan ID card, a mobile phone, and a laser device from the site.

Ishaq Dar Urges Taliban to Curb Terrorist Safe Havens

On the diplomatic front, Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar voiced grave concern over the presence of more than two dozen terrorist groups inside Afghanistan, calling on the Taliban to take “concrete and verifiable” action.

Speaking at the inaugural meeting of the OIC Contact Group on Afghanistan in New York, Dar warned that groups such as the TTP, Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA), Majeed Brigade, and the East Turkestan Islamic Movement (ETIM), working alongside Al-Qaeda, posed “a grave threat to regional and international peace and security.”

“Our law enforcement officials and civilians continue to make enormous sacrifices to terrorism emanating from Afghanistan. Earlier this month, 12 Pakistani soldiers were martyred in our bordering regions while combating TTP infiltrators from Afghanistan,” he said.

Dar further highlighted that militant groups were using digital platforms and social media for propaganda and incitement, warning that such activities “cannot be tolerated under any circumstances.”

He proposed forming a working group of OIC experts to develop a roadmap with reciprocal steps to address Afghanistan’s challenges, stressing that Pakistan remained committed to peace but expected “mutual respect, sincerity and political will” from Kabul.

“No country desires to see normalcy and stability in Afghanistan more than Pakistan,” Dar said, reiterating that the destinies of both neighbours were deeply “intertwined.”

Pakistan has lately been witnessing an uptick in terrorist activity, mainly in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan. The TTP formally ended a ceasefire with Islamabad in November 2022 and vowed to escalate attacks against security forces, police, and law enforcement agencies, a trend that continues to drive instability today.