RAWALPINDI: A Pakistan Army soldier was martyred during a counter-insurgency operation in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Dera Ismail Khan district on Monday, while seven terrorists were killed, the military’s media wing said.
According to the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), an intelligence-based operation (IBO) was carried out in the Kulachi area of DI Khan on information regarding the presence of terrorists affiliated with the Indian proxy Fitna-al-Khawarij — a term used by the state for militants belonging to the banned Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP).
“During the conduct of the operation, own troops effectively engaged the khwarij location and, after an intense exchange of fire, seven khwarij were sent to hell,” the ISPR statement said.
During the encounter, Naik Yasir Khan, 34, a resident of Mardan, embraced martyrdom after “fighting gallantly and paying the ultimate sacrifice,” the statement added.
Weapons and ammunition were recovered from the killed terrorists, who, according to the ISPR, were involved in multiple acts of terrorism in the area.
The military said a sanitisation operation was underway to eliminate any remaining militants in the area, reaffirming that the ongoing counter-terrorism campaign under the vision of “Azm-i-Istehkam”, approved by the Federal Apex Committee on the National Action Plan, would continue at full pace to eradicate the menace of foreign-sponsored terrorism from the country.
Earlier, security forces killed 13 terrorists in two separate intelligence-based operations in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, the ISPR said on Sunday.
According to the statement, the operations were carried out on December 12 and 13 in the Mohmand district and Bannu, where militants linked to Fitna-al-Khawarij were eliminated in separate engagements.
Pakistan was ranked second in the Global Terrorism Index 2025, with deaths from terrorist attacks increasing by 45 per cent compared to the previous year. The index, published by the Institute for Economics and Peace, analyses global terrorism trends over the past 17 years.
Last month, security forces also eliminated 22 terrorists during an operation in Bannu district.
