In a fierce military operation in Pakistan’s volatile Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, eleven Pakistani soldiers, including a Lieutenant Colonel and a Major, lost their lives in a clash with the Pakistani Taliban, also known as Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP). The operation, which took place late Tuesday in the Orakzai district near the Afghanistan border, also resulted in the deaths of nineteen terrorists, according to a statement released by the Pakistani Army on Wednesday afternoon.

The military acted on intelligence indicating the presence of members of the Fitna al-Khawarij, a term used by the Pakistani government to describe local extremist groups like the TTP. The operation aimed to neutralize the terrorist threat in the region, which has seen a sharp increase in violence in recent years. The Army has vowed to conduct a “sanitisation” exercise to eliminate any remaining terrorists in the area, signaling an ongoing commitment to rooting out insurgent activity.

This deadly encounter follows a string of violent incidents in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, a province that shares a porous border with Afghanistan and has become a hotspot for terrorist activity. Just last month, a multi-service raid in the Karak district targeted a TTP hideout, killing 17 terrorists but injuring three police officers in the process. Earlier, in Dera Ismail Khan, another district in the northwest, 13 TTP fighters were gunned down in an intelligence-based operation. These repeated clashes highlight the growing challenge posed by the TTP and other separatist groups in the region.

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The resurgence of the TTP, which is distinct from but allied with the Afghan Taliban, has been particularly pronounced since the Taliban’s return to power in Afghanistan in 2021. Many TTP leaders and fighters are believed to have found safe havens across the border, emboldening their operations in Pakistan. The group has claimed responsibility for numerous attacks, contributing to a surge in terrorism-related violence across the country.

The scale of the crisis was starkly illustrated last month when the Pakistani government bombed a village in the Tirah Valley, targeting a suspected TTP bomb-making facility. Tragically, the operation killed 30 civilians, including women and children, who were reportedly used as human shields by the terrorists. The incident sparked outrage and underscored the devastating toll of the ongoing conflict on civilian lives.

According to data from Pakistani think tanks, terrorism-related violence has spiked by an estimated 46 percent in the past three months alone. At least 901 fatalities and 599 injuries have been recorded, affecting both civilians and security forces, across 329 terror attacks and counter-terror operations. Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan, both bordering Afghanistan, have borne the brunt of this violence, accounting for over 96 percent of the total incidents. Khyber Pakhtunkhwa alone suffered nearly 71 percent of the fatalities and over 67 percent of the violent incidents, making it the epicenter of Pakistan’s escalating security crisis.

As the Pakistani military continues its operations against the TTP and other extremist groups, the toll on both soldiers and civilians highlights the complexity and danger of the fight against terrorism in the region. With no immediate resolution in sight, the government faces mounting pressure to address the root causes of the insurgency while minimizing civilian casualties in its counter-terrorism efforts.

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