Pakistan security forces kill 25 terrorists in northwestern KPK province

Peshawar, Oct 26 (PTI) Pakistan security forces gunned down 25 terrorists, including four suicide bombers, while preventing two major infiltration attempts from neighbouring Afghanistan in Pakistan’s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, the military’s media wing said on Sunday.  Five security personnel were also killed in clashes with the terrorists, the media wing said in a statement.

The security forces seized a large cache of weapons and explosives in both operations conducted in North Waziristan and Kurram districts on Friday night.

Security forces detected movements of two large groups of terrorists attempting to infiltrate Pakistan from Afghanistan near Ghaki in Kurram District and Spinwam in North Waziristan District.

The statement said that the troops “effectively engaged these groups” of terrorists, killing “fifteen khwarij, including four suicide bombers belonging to Fitna al Khwarij.” The Pakistan government last year notified the banned Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) as "Fitna al-Khawarij", a reference to a group in earlier Islamic history which was involved in violence.

It added that another ten infiltrating terrorists were killed in Ghaki, Kurram District, on the same day, and a large cache of weapons, ammunition, and explosives was recovered from the slain militants.

“It is significant to point out that these infiltration attempts by Fitna al Khwarij are being carried out at a time when delegations of Pakistan and Afghanistan are engaged in talks in Türkiye,” the statement said.

Sanitisation operation is being conducted to eliminate any remaining terrorists in the area, it said.

Pakistan has seen a surge in terrorist attacks, particularly in KP and Balochistan, mostly targeting police, law enforcement personnel, and security forces. The spike followed the banned TTP’s breach of a ceasefire agreement with the government in 2022.

Last week, security forces neutralised 34 terrorists during multiple operations across KPK. PTI AYZ RD RD