KABUL, AFGHANISTAN – Pakistan’s military says it killed 13 militants in two separate incidents this week while they were attempting to cross into Pakistan from Afghanistan along border areas in the northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province.
In a statement on Thursday, the military said the militants belonged to what it called “Indian-sponsored Fitna al-Khawarij,” a term Islamabad uses for Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), an outlawed group responsible for hundreds of deadly attacks in the country.
According to the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), the military’s media wing, the first incident took place in Mohmand district, where security forces intercepted a group of militants attempting to infiltrate across the border. Eight militants were killed in the exchange.
In a second operation in North Waziristan district, troops detected another group trying to cross the border and killed five militants, the statement said.
The ISPR said both operations were conducted based on intelligence about attempted cross-border movement from Afghanistan.
“These engagements once again substantiate Pakistan’s repeated stance regarding abject failure of the Afghan Taliban regime to ensure effective border management on their side,” the statement said.
The military called on the Afghan Taliban to prevent militants from using Afghan territory for attacks inside Pakistan and to strengthen border control measures.
The military added that Pakistani security forces would press ahead with operations “at full pace” against militancy, which it described as foreign-sponsored, saying such incidents would only strengthen their resolve to eliminate the threat.
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.
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.
