KABUL — Pakistani security forces said on Wednesday they killed 13 militants during an operation in the Daraban area of Dera Ismail Khan district, close to the Afghan border, as Islamabad continues to step up counterterrorism operations in its northwest.
The Pakistani military’s media wing, Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), said the fighters belonged to the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), a group that has intensified attacks on security forces since the Taliban takeover in Afghanistan.
According to the statement, the slain men were linked to several “terrorist activities,” including a suicide bombing in December 2023 in Daraban that killed 23 people, as well as kidnappings and assassinations of officials and civilians.
This comes amid Pakistan’s growing struggle with a resurgent TTP, whose leadership is believed to be based in Afghanistan.
Islamabad has long accused Taliban authorities of turning a blind eye to TTP sanctuaries across the border, despite repeated calls to rein them in. The Taliban deny providing safe haven but have resisted Pakistani pressure to act militarily against the group, straining relations between the two neighbors.
Cross-border tensions have escalated over the past two years, with Pakistan carrying out intensified raids in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan, and occasionally launching airstrikes inside Afghanistan.
The TTP, ideologically aligned with but organizationally distinct from the Afghan Taliban, has claimed responsibility for numerous deadly assaults since a cease-fire agreement with Islamabad collapsed in late 2022. Its fighters have repeatedly targeted Pakistani security convoys, checkpoints, and urban centers, while also engaging in kidnappings and extortion.
Analysts say Pakistan’s frustration with the Taliban in Kabul is mounting, with Islamabad accusing it of inaction or even tacit support for the TTP. The Taliban, in turn, criticize Pakistan for blaming others instead of addressing its internal security challenges.
