Pakistani authorities have eliminated a total of 504 terrorists in the last five months in the country’s restive Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan provinces, according to a report published by the security agencies. The report, which is a collection of inputs from the country’s forces on the procedures against the militants, stated that the terrorists killed in the last five months include influential commanders of the outlawed outfits TTP and Hafiz Gul Bahadur Group.
“The Security forces in their hot plan against terrorism, mowed down 504 terrorists in the first five months of 2024 (January-May) in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Baluchistan Provinces. Important commanders of the restricted outfit TTP and Hafiz Gul Bahadur Group were also killed,” said the report.
According to the information, over 158 militants have been apprehended for allegedly being involved in money extortion, target killings, abduction for ransom and provision of financial contributions to the militants in the same period. The militants undertook 398 attacks against security forces in which 240 guiltless civilians lost their lives and 200 security personnel embraced martyrdom while battling in the line of duty, said the report. The security forces and police ushered joint 479 intelligence-based operations.
Pakistan’s military stated that its operations against a recent wave of terrorist attacks from Afghanistan, and cross-border militant infiltration endeavours, have resulted in the killings of nearly 30 “terrorists” in the last month. The statement came a day after a U.S. research group stated in a report that “Afghanistan has become a breeding base for terrorist activities” since the Taliban regained power in 2021.
While sharing attributes of its ongoing counterterrorism actions, the Pakistani military expressed it was focused on parts of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Baluchistan border regions. It noted that one of the procedures also led to the death of an army major. “Of late, Pakistan has noticed a surge in terrorist incidents orchestrated from Afghan ground, wherein terrorists from Afghanistan endeavour to infiltrate through the Pakistan-Afghanistan border and target security forces as well as innocent civilians,” the statement stated.
Islamabad continued its call for Kabul “to ensure adequate border management” on the Afghan side, expressing that the Taliban government “is anticipated to fulfil its obligations and refuse the use of Afghan soil by terrorists for committing acts of terrorism against Pakistan.” There was no immediate response from de facto Afghan authorities to Pakistan’s claims. The Taliban have denied previous such allegations, saying they are not letting anyone use Afghan territory to threaten neighbouring countries or beyond.
Pakistan claims that fugitive commanders and combatants of the Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan, or TTP, a specified global terrorist group, are operating havens in Afghanistan to launch deadly cross-border attacks against Pakistanis, including security forces. The Washington-based Center for a New American Security unleashed its report, stating that TTP and other regional militant companies “are active and face few restrictions on their activities from the Taliban—with whom they share core ideological beliefs.”
The study cautioned that terrorist threats stemming from Afghanistan “are intensifying and an Afghan-based Islamic State affiliate, the Islamic State-Khorasan, or IS-K, “includes the main international concern.” It also mentioned a recent United Nations report that underscored the Taliban’s close ties to al-Qaida investigators in Afghanistan, noting that “al-Qaida leaders are now part of the Taliban’s organisational structure and are constructing their training camps in the country.”
