Pakistan army kills 22 terrorists in northwest KP
At least 22 terrorists have been killed during an intelligence-based operation by Pakistan’s security forces in the country’s northwest Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, the military said on Friday.
On April 21, a joint intelligence-based operation was conducted by the security forces in the Khyber District of the province on the reported presence of terrorists.
During the conduct of the operation, twenty-two terrorists, belonging to Fitna-al-Khwarij, were killed, the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), the media wing of the military, said in a statement. Fitna al-Khawarij is a term the state uses to refer to the banned Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP). The statement said, “Terrorists resorted to indiscriminate firing, which resulted in the killing of a ten-year-old child”. Sanitisation operations are underway to eliminate any remaining terrorists in the area. The statement highlighted that the counter-terrorism campaign under the vision “Azm-e-Istehkam,” approved by the Federal Apex Committee on the National Action Plan, will continue at full pace.
“Security forces of Pakistan will continue at full pace to wipe out the menace of terrorism...,” the statement concluded. President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif have commended security forces for their successful operation in Khyber. In separate statements, both leaders expressed profound grief over the killing of a 10-year-old child, who was killed by indiscriminate firing from the terrorists, Radio Pakistan reported.
The president noted that while Pakistan continues to strive for regional and global peace, terrorists are attempting to undermine these efforts. He affirmed that Pakistan remains committed to defeating terrorism and maintaining its role in promoting stability.
Despite record militant deaths, Pakistan saw a sharp escalation in militant violence in 2025, with terrorist attacks rising by 34 per cent and terrorism-related fatalities increasing by 21 per cent year on year, according to a report released by the Islamabad-based Pak Institute for Peace Studies.
KP in particular has seen a rise in terrorist attacks in the past year. According to the Annual Security Report 2025 from the Centre for Research and Security Studies (CRSS), the province recorded a significant surge in violence last year as “fatalities rose from 1,620 in 2024 to 2,331 in 2025”.
Due to a resurgence of militancy, especially in KP and Balochistan, where attacks often target security personnel and LEAs, the state has intensified counter-terrorism operations. Last month, security forces killed 13 terrorists in five separate operations across KP.
