KABUL – Pakistan’s military said to have killed 33 militants in a cross-border infiltration attempt from Afghanistan into Balochistan, in what it describes as one of the deadliest such encounters in recent months.
In a statement released Friday, Pakistan’s military media wing, Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), said the armed group attempted to cross into Zhob district of Balochistan province during the night of August 7–8.
The infiltration was allegedly carried out by what Pakistan calls “khawarij”, a term it uses for fighters of the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), whom Islamabad accuses of operating with support from inside Afghanistan.
“Pakistani security forces detected and decisively engaged the group as they attempted to breach the border,” the ISPR said. “Thirty-three militants were killed, and a large cache of weapons, ammunition, and explosives was recovered.”
While the operation took place in Balochistan, home to a decades-long separatist insurgency, the TTP is more frequently associated with attacks in Pakistan’s northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province. The group, which has been responsible for hundreds of deadly attacks in Pakistan over the past decade, is considered a banned terrorist organization by Islamabad and several other countries.
Pakistan has long accused the Taliban of harboring the TTP leadership, claiming the group uses Afghanistan soil to plan and launch attacks. The military further alleged that the militants killed in the latest clash were “Indian-sponsored,” a charge that both Afghanistan and India have consistently denied.
The Taliban regime in Kabul has rejected accusations of allowing militant groups to operate from Afghanistan, claiming it does not permit foreign fighters or attacks across borders.
The group has not commented on this latest incident.
