At least 16 terrorists have been killed by Pakistani security forces after they foiled an infiltration bid along the Pakistan-Afghan border, the media wing of the Pakistani military said on Sunday.
The Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) said on Sunday that security forces identified a terrorist group trying to cross the Afghan border in the Ghulam Khan Kallay area of North Waziristan district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province. The forces then effectively repelled them. 16 terrorists were killed after a fierce gunfight.
The ISPR said in a statement that Pakistan has long been requesting the interim Afghan government to improve its border management. It is the responsibility of the Afghan government to prevent its territory from being used by terrorists to carry out terrorist activities against Pakistan. Pakistan’s security forces are determined to secure the border and eradicate the roots of terrorism from the country.
Pakistan and Afghanistan share a nearly 2,500-km-long porous border, with several crossings, which is a vital part of regional trade and relations for the people of both countries. However, terrorism has become a major problem for Pakistan. Islamabad has repeatedly called on the Afghan government to ensure that its soil is not used by groups like the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) to launch attacks in Pakistan.
A report by the Analysis and Sanctions Monitoring Group presented to the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) confirmed Islamabad’s concerns. The report said that Kabul has been instrumental in providing arms, logistics and financial support to the TTP.
Earlier in January this year, Pakistani security forces killed six terrorists who were trying to infiltrate from the Pakistan-Afghan border in Balochistan’s Zhob district.
Meanwhile, the number of terrorist attacks in Pakistan in January 2025 increased by 42 percent compared to the previous month, according to statistics published by the Pakistan Institute for Conflict and Security Studies (PICSS), a research organization. According to the statistics, at least 74 terrorist attacks were recorded in the country in January, in which 91 people were killed. Of these, 35 were security forces, 20 were civilians and 36 were terrorists. In addition, 117 people were injured in the attacks, of which 53 were security forces, 54 were civilians and 10 were terrorists.
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) province was the most affected by terrorist attacks, followed by Balochistan. 27 attacks were carried out in the general districts of KP, in which a total of 19 people were killed, including 11 security forces personnel, six civilians and two terrorists. In addition, the tribal district of KP (formerly Phata) was the victim of 19 attacks.
Source: The News International.