Pakistan’s security forces carried out two overnight intelligence-led operations in the country’s northwest, killing 13 terrorists in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, the military said on Thursday. The raids were conducted during the intervening night of January 13 and 14 as part of Islamabad’s ongoing campaign against militant groups operating in the region.
According to a statement by the military’s media wing, the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), eight terrorists were killed in an intelligence-based operation in the Bannu district after security forces acted on reports of their presence. In a separate operation in the Kurram district, five more militants were neutralised. The ISPR said sanitisation operations were continuing to ensure no other terrorists remain in the areas.
Pakistani authorities identified the slain militants as members of Fitna Al Khawarij, the term used by the government to refer to fighters of the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP). The latest raids follow another counterterror operation earlier this week in Balochistan’s Kalat district, where four militants were killed.
The operations come against the backdrop of a surge in terrorist violence across Pakistan. A report by the Pak Institute for Peace Studies said terror attacks increased by 34 percent in 2025, while terrorism-related deaths rose by 21 percent compared to the previous year. Official data shows that Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan remain the worst-affected regions.
Pakistan’s military has vowed to continue aggressive counterterror operations as the country grapples with persistent militant threats along its western border regions.
