Pakistani security forces have killed nine militants, including a high-value target, during a targeted operation in the restive northwestern region near the Afghan border, the military confirmed on Monday.
According to a statement issued by the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), the raid was conducted in Dera Ismail Khan, a city located in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province. Among those killed was a senior militant commander identified as Shireen, who was reportedly behind the recent killing of army Captain Hasnain Akhtar during a shootout in the same region.
The military described the slain insurgents as “Khwarij,” a term the Pakistani government frequently uses to refer to members of Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), also known as the Pakistani Taliban. The TTP, an ideological ally of the Afghan Taliban, has intensified its activities in Pakistan following the Taliban’s return to power in Afghanistan in 2021.
The raid in Dera Ismail Khan followed another operation on Sunday in which Pakistani forces killed eight militants in the North Waziristan district as they attempted to infiltrate from Afghanistan.
The rising number of militant attacks has raised serious security concerns in Pakistan, prompting calls for greater cooperation from Kabul. Pakistan has repeatedly accused Afghanistan’s Taliban-led government of harboring TTP militants and allowing them to launch cross-border attacks — an allegation consistently denied by Afghan authorities.
On Monday, Pakistan’s Special Representative for Afghanistan, Mohammad Sadiq, reiterated Islamabad’s concerns, urging the Afghan government to crack down on TTP operations.
“Afghanistan has to work with us on this. If they are not working on this, then all deals are off,” Sadiq warned during a televised seminar in Islamabad.
The TTP has claimed responsibility for a series of deadly attacks across Pakistan in recent months, including ambushes on security convoys and attacks on checkpoints. The group’s goal remains the imposition of strict Islamic law in Pakistan, mirroring the ideology of their Afghan counterparts.
As operations continue in border regions, Pakistani authorities remain on high alert, vowing to respond decisively to threats against national security.
Sources By Agencies
