11 terrorists killed, several injured in separate operations in Punjab, KP: officials

At least 11 terrorists were killed on Monday and several others injured after police conducted separate operations in Makarwal area of Punjab’s Mianwali and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Lower South Waziristan districts, officials said.

Pakistan has witnessed an uptick in terror activities over the past year, especially in KP and Balochistan, after the proscribed Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) ended its ceasefire with the government in November 2022.

Faced with increasing attacks by militants, especially in KP and Balochistan, security forces have also intensified counterterrorism operations.

According to a statement issued by the police today, the Mianwali police and the Counter-Terrorism Department conducted a successful joint operation against terrorists in Makarwal, killing at least 10 of them and injuring several others.

“A resident of the area was also injured in the operation due to firing by the terrorists, and was consequently moved to the hospital for treatment,” the statement read.

“The operation against the terrorists was carried out under the supervision of the Regional Police Officer Muhammad Shahzad Asif Khan and the Mianwali District Police Officer (DPO) Akhtar Farooq,” it added.

It continued that DPO Farooq, other policemen, CTD officers and the department’s personnel “remained completely unhurt”.

While quoting Punjab Inspector General of Police (IGP) Dr Usman Anwar, the statement read that the provincial police chief congratulated the Mianwali cops on their “brilliant success against the terrorists”.

“The Punjab police are on alert … the nefarious plans of the terrorists will be crushed to dust,” the Punjab police chief was quoted as saying.

In a separate statement, Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi paid tribute to the Punjab police and CTD for killing the terrorists, stating that the law enforcement agencies “achieved a great success by bringing the terrorists to an exemplary end”.

“I am proud of the courage of the brave soldiers who foiled the nefarious intentions of Khawarji terrorists,” Naqvi said.

Fitna Al Khawarij is a term the state uses to refer to the banned TTP

“I congratulate the entire team of police and CTD for killing more than 10 terrorists,” he added.

According to a statement about a separate incident issued by the KP IGP’s office, “unidentified terrorists attacked the station house officer (SHO) of the Azam Warsak police station and a team of cops in the Kalosha area”.

“The SHO and the police team were on polio duty,” it added.

The statement read that “one terrorist was killed in an exchange of fire” that lasted for about 30 minutes. It continued that the remaining terrorists fled the scene.

The authorities recovered a sub-machine gun, a rocket launcher and two motorcycles from the assailants.

As per the statement, the slain terrorist was identified as “Afnan, who was carrying two identity cards, three ATM cards and a smartphone”.

It added that one of the recovered cards belonged to the terrorist, but the other one belonged to a police constable, who was martyred in an attack before Eidul Fitr. The constable’s case had been registered at the Counter Terrorism Department police station in South Waziristan.

“Additional personnel and armoured personnel carriers have been dispatched to investigate the area and protect polio teams,” the statement read.

“KP IGP Zulfiqar Hameed has congratulated the police team and announced a reward,” it concluded.

Militant violence and security operations intensified in the country in March, with the number of militant attacks surpassing 100 for the first time since November 2014, according to a report 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.