Pakistan Says 15 TTP Militants Killed in Back-to-Back Operations Near Afghan Border
Security forces storm militant hideouts, kill 15 in fierce anti-terror operations.
Pakistani security forces launched two meticulously planned intelligence-based operations in the restive northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province on Tuesday, resulting in the complete neutralisation of 15 dangerous militants in separate hideouts located perilously close to the Afghan border. The raids, executed with precision under the cover of darkness, mark a significant blow to insurgent networks that have intensified attacks on Pakistani soil throughout 2025.
The first and largest engagement unfolded in Dera Ismail Khan district, where elite troops encircled a fortified militant compound and eliminated 10 hardcore fighters affiliated with the banned Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP). Following intense close-quarter combat, security personnel recovered substantial caches of assault rifles, rocket-propelled grenades, improvised explosive devices, and communication equipment, indicating the site served as a major logistical and planning hub for cross-border terrorism.
Hours later, a follow-up operation in the mountainous North Waziristan district targeted another sanctuary, where five additional high-value militants were killed during a heavy exchange of fire. The military officially designated all 15 deceased insurgents as “Khawarij,” a term increasingly employed by Pakistani authorities to describe TTP elements and other groups allegedly receiving covert backing from hostile intelligence agencies in Afghanistan and India—allegations that both Kabul and New Delhi have consistently and categorically rejected.
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The Pakistani Taliban, though sharing ideological roots and maintaining operational alliances with the Afghan Taliban regime, remain a distinct entity committed to imposing their version of strict Islamic rule within Pakistan through violence. Since the Afghan Taliban’s return to power in August 2021, Islamabad has repeatedly accused Kabul of granting safe havens to TTP leadership and fighters along the 2,600-kilometre Durand Line border, a charge that has severely strained bilateral ties and triggered diplomatic confrontations at the highest levels.
These latest successes underscore Pakistan’s escalating counter-terrorism campaign in the tribal belt, where a surge in sophisticated attacks has claimed hundreds of military and civilian lives this year. With relations between Islamabad and the Taliban administration at their lowest point in decades, Tuesday’s operations signal an uncompromising resolve to dismantle militant infrastructure regardless of the regional fallout.
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