KABUL, AFGHANISTAN – Pakistan’s military says it killed 15 Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) members who were attempting to cross from Afghanistan into North Waziristan, a district in the country’s northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, along the Afghan border.
In a statement, the military’s media wing, Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), said the militants tried to cross the border on the night of Aug. 31-Sept. 1. Security forces detected their movement and “responded professionally and with patience,” engaging them in an operation that lasted 36 hours.
“As a result of precise and skillful engagement… 15 khawarij belonging to India-sponsored Fitna-al-Khawarij were killed,” the statement said. Islamabad refers to the TTP as Fitna al-Khawarij.
According to the statement, large quantities of weapons and ammunition were recovered during a follow-up sanitization operation. This “exposed the nefarious designs of khawarij and their facilitators seeking to disrupt peace and stability in the country,” ISPR added.
The military said the incident “once again vindicated Pakistan’s persistent stance regarding the abject failure of the Afghan Taliban regime to deny the use of Afghan soil to the terrorist organization under their patronage for cross-border terrorism.” It accused the Taliban authorities of consistently failing to ensure effective border management or honor their international obligations.
The military vowed that its counterterrorism campaign under the government’s “Azm-e-Istehkam” vision would continue at full pace to eliminate what it called foreign-sponsored terrorism.
Militant attacks have surged in Pakistan, especially in the Afghan-border provinces of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan, since the Taliban returned to power in Kabul in 2021. A report by the Islamabad-based Centre for Research and Security Studies (CRSS) found the two provinces accounted for nearly 96% of all violence-related fatalities in the second quarter of 2026. Khyber Pakhtunkhwa recorded more than 61% of the deaths (475), while Balochistan accounted for 34% (265).
Islamabad accuses the Afghan Taliban of harboring TTP fighters and allowing them to plan and launch attacks from Afghan territory. The Taliban rejects the claims, insisting Pakistan’s security challenges are an internal matter and that no such groups operate from Afghan soil.
Tensions between the neighbors have escalated sharply since late 2025. The period has seen dozens of border clashes, Pakistani airstrikes inside Afghanistan — including targets in Kabul and Kandahar — and retaliatory actions that have caused hundreds of casualties in Afghanistan, including civilians. Borders have remained largely closed for almost a year, disrupting trade and the movement of people.
Despite several rounds of talks in various countries over the past year, the two sides have yet to reach an agreement to ease tensions. Islamabad is reportedly seeking stronger action by the Taliban against the TTP, along with written assurances that Afghan territory will not be used for attacks against Pakistan.
