KABUL, AFGHANISTAN – At least 11 Pakistani soldiers, including two senior officers, and 19 militants were killed in an overnight counterterrorism operation near the Afghanistan border in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, the Pakistani military said Wednesday.
The army’s media wing, Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), said in a statement that the “intelligence-based” operation took place in the Orakzai district on Tuesday night, October 7.
According to the ISPR, 19 militants belonging to the “Indian proxy, Fitna al-Khawarij,” a term Islamabad uses for the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), were killed in the clash.
Two senior officers, Lieutenant Colonel Junaid Arif and Major Tayyab Rahat, were among those killed, the army said. It added that a clearance and search operation was continuing in the area to eliminate what it described as “Indian-sponsored terrorists.”
“The security forces of Pakistan are determined to wipe out the menace of Indian Sponsored Terrorism from the country and such sacrifices of our brave men further strengthen our resolve,” the statement said.
The deadly operation comes amid a surge in militant violence across Pakistan’s northwestern and southwestern regions bordering Afghanistan. Last month, 12 Pakistani soldiers were killed in an attack claimed by the TTP in South Waziristan, another restive district near the frontier.
Pakistan has seen a sharp rise in militant attacks since the Taliban’s return to power in Afghanistan in 2021. Groups such as the TTP and the Baloch Liberation Army (BLA) have intensified assaults on security forces and government facilities, particularly in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan provinces.
Last year was Pakistan’s deadliest in nearly a decade, with more than 1,600 people killed — nearly half of them soldiers and police — according to the Islamabad-based Center for Research and Security Studies (CRSS).
Tensions between Islamabad and the Taliban have once again escalated in recent months over cross-border militancy. Pakistan accuses the Taliban of sheltering TTP leaders and fighters in Afghanistan and of failing to prevent the group from launching attacks on Pakistani soil. The Taliban reject the allegations, saying no armed groups operate from Afghanistan — a claim disputed by UN reports and regional intelligence assessments.
In a joint statement issued after the Moscow Format Consultation on Afghanistan held on Tuesday, regional countries, including Pakistan, urged the Taliban authorities to take effective action against militant groups and prevent the use of Afghan territory for terrorism. The statement also called for stronger regional cooperation to strengthen counterterrorism measures.
