KABUL, AFGHANISTAN – Pakistani security officials say that 13 members of the Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), including two Afghan nationals, have been killed over the past two days during a clearance operation in the Adam Khel Valley of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province.
The Pakistani newspaper Dawn, citing security officials, reported that two Afghan nationals and six TTP members were killed on Saturday, while five other members of the group were killed on Friday.
According to the report, the two Afghan nationals were identified as “Qari Zainatullah” and “Longin,” and were members of the “Tariq Gidar” faction affiliated with the TTP.
Pakistan’s army and police launched the “clearance operation” against TTP militant positions in the Adam Khel Valley near Peshawar on Friday (May 29).
Security officials said that the operation is still ongoing and that the area remains under siege.
The TTP-affiliated Tariq Gidar faction, named after militant leader Tariq Afridi from Darra Adamkhel, has long operated in the region and has been linked to various militant activities. Afridi was reportedly killed by relatives in Khyber in 2012.
Darra Adamkhel, situated south of Peshawar and bordering the districts of Kohat and Peshawar in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, has frequently been the scene of militant attacks targeting security personnel and convoys. The area has also been the focus of multiple military operations over the years.
Militant violence has surged across Pakistan in recent years, with the northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and southwestern Balochistan provinces — both bordering Afghanistan — seeing the highest number of attacks. The TTP and Baloch separatist groups have stepped up attacks on security forces and state installations.
Islamabad accuses the Afghan Taliban authorities of harbouring TTP fighters and allowing them to use Afghan territory to plan and launch cross-border attacks. The Taliban rejects these allegations, maintaining that Pakistan’s security challenges are an internal issue and that no such groups operate from Afghan soil.
On the surface, the Taliban have sought to distance themselves from involvement in the TTP’s conflict with the Pakistani government. Last year, they organized a large gathering of religious scholars in Kabul and issued a religious decree stating that participating in “jihad” outside Afghanistan is “not obligatory.”
Nevertheless, some Taliban-affiliated officials and preachers have continued to argue that “fighting on Pakistani soil” is permissible.
Tensions between Islamabad and Kabul have escalated sharply since late 2025, marked by dozens of border clashes, Pakistani airstrikes inside Afghanistan — including targets in Kabul and Kandahar — and retaliatory actions. The exchanges have resulted in hundreds of casualties on both sides, including civilians.
