Security forces killed nine terrorists “sponsored” by India during a series of operations in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa on Sunday, according to the military’s media wing.
According to a statement from the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), nine “Indian-sponsored khawarij” were killed in three separate engagements.
“An intelligence-based operation (IBO) was conducted by the security forces in Dera Ismail Khan district, on [the] reported presence of Indian sponsored khwarij,” the military’s media wing said, using the term designating terrorists affiliated with the banned Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan.
During the engagement, security forces “effectively engaged the khawarij location and after an intense fire exchange, four Indian-sponsored khawarij were sent to hell”.
According to the statement, another IBO was conducted in Tank District and two more Indian-sponsored khawarij were “sent to hell” by the security forces.
In the third operation in Khyber district’s Bagh area, “own troops successfully neutralised three more Indian-sponsored khawarij”, the ISPR said.
The statement added that weapons and ammunition were recovered from the dead terrorists, who were involved in numerous terrorist activities in these areas.
“Sanitisation operations are being conducted to eliminate any other kharji found in the area, as the security forces of Pakistan are determined to wipe out the menace of Indian-sponsored terrorism from the country,” the statement concluded.
Last week, 12 terrorists belonging to “Indian proxy” outfits were killed by security forces while two personnel were martyred in separate engagements in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan, the ISPR had said on Monday.
It added that intelligence-based operations (IBOs) were conducted on Saturday and Sunday against the TTP in KP and the proscribed Balochistan Liberation Front in Balochistan.
An IBO was conducted in Lakki Marwat district during which troops engaged the enemy at its location and sent “five Indian sponsored” terrorists to “hell”, it said. In a second IBO in the Bannu district, two “Indian-sponsored” terrorists were “successfully neutralised” by the security forces.
It further said that terrorists ambushed a security forces convoy in another incident in North Waziristan district’s general area of Mir Ali, adding that two “Indian sponsored” terrorists were “sent to hell” after the effective response of troops.
“However, during the intense fire exchange, two brave sons of the soil, Sepoy Farhad Ali Turi (age: 29 years, resident of Kurram district) and Lance Naik Sabir Afridi (age: 32 years, resident of Kohat district) having fought gallantly, paid the ultimate sacrifice and embraced martyrdom.”
Last month, ISPR Director General Lt Gen Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry accused India of activating its “assets” to intensify terrorist attacks in Pakistan, presenting “irrefutable evidence” of Indian state-sponsored terrorism, directed by the Indian military personnel.
“Post-Pahalgam, because of the designs of terrorism that they have, they tasked all their assets, the terrorists operating in Balochistan, and we have credible intelligence for that, the Fitnah-al-Khawarij and the independent terrorist cells … to increase their activity,” he had said, using the state-designated term for the banned TTP.
Pakistan has witnessed an uptick in terror activities, especially in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan, after the TTP ended its ceasefire with the government in November 2022.
A significant improvement was seen in Pakistan’s internal security landscape in April 2025, “as both militant attacks and resultant casualties dropped sharply compared to March”, according to data released by the Pakistan Institute for Conflict and Security Studies (PICSS).
Pakistan ranked second in the Global Terrorism Index 2025, with the number of deaths in terrorist attacks rising by 45 per cent over the past year to 1,081.
