The Kabul Tribune (KT) — Pakistan’s military said that its forces foiled two major infiltration attempts along the border with Afghanistan this week, killing 25 militants in separate operations in Kurram and North Waziristan districts.
According to the military’s statement, security forces
detected movements of two large groups of militants on October 24 and 25 who
were trying to cross into Pakistan near Ghaki in Kurram District and Spinwam in
North Waziristan District. Troops effectively engaged the infiltrators, killing
15, including four suicide bombers, in North Waziristan and another 10 in
Kurram. A large quantity of weapons, ammunition, and explosives was recovered
from the slain militants.
Five Pakistani soldiers were killed during the clashes. They
were identified as Havildar Manzoor Hussain, 35, from District Ghizar; Sepoy
Nauman Ilyas Kiyani, 23, from District Poonch; Sepoy Muhammad Adil, 24, from
District Kasur; Sepoy Shah Jehan, 25, from District Vehari; and Sepoy Ali
Asghar, 25, from District Pak Pattan. The military said they “fought gallantly
and embraced martyrdom.”
The statement added that the infiltration attempts occurred
at a time when Pakistani and Afghan delegations were holding talks in Türkiye
over cross-border terrorism — raising concerns about the intentions of the
interim Afghan government. Pakistani officials have repeatedly urged the
Taliban authorities to take action against militant groups operating from
Afghan soil.
Islamabad has long accused the Taliban of allowing the
banned Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) to use Afghan territory for attacks
inside Pakistan, a claim the Taliban deny. A United Nations report earlier this
year estimated that between 5,000 and 6,000 TTP fighters remain in Afghanistan
under Taliban rule, despite assurances under the 2020 Doha Agreement that
Afghan soil would not be used against other countries.
The military said a sanitization operation was underway in
the border regions to eliminate any remaining infiltrators as part of its
ongoing counterterrorism campaign Azm-e-Istehkam, which seeks to eradicate
militancy and foreign-sponsored terrorism from the country.
