In an overnight military operation against militant activity in the northwest region bordering Afghanistan, two Pakistani soldiers and one militant were killed.
The military operation took place in Miran Shah, the main town of North Waziristan, following concrete intelligence reports about the presence of militants. As troops closed in on the location, a group of militants was intercepted, resulting in an intense shootout. The army major leading the operation and another soldier were killed, along with one militant who was killed, and another was injured.
Additionally, another raid on a militant hideout occurred in the Tirah valley of Khyber district along the Afghanistan border, where a soldier and a militant were killed.
Recent days had seen an increase in militant attacks on security forces in the northwest region. On a previous day, a suicide bomber targeted a security convoy in Bannu, a district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, resulting in the deaths of nine soldiers and injuries to 20 others. Bannu serves as the gateway to North Waziristan, which had long served as a safe haven for militants until a massive military operation was launched in response to an attack on an army-run school in Peshawar in 2014, which killed over 150 people, primarily schoolchildren.
Despite the years-long operation that cleared the region of local and foreign militants, occasional attacks have persisted, raising concerns that the local Taliban, known as Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan, may have found sanctuaries in Afghanistan and are regrouping in the area.
While the Pakistani Taliban are a distinct group, they are allied with the Afghan Taliban, who took control of Afghanistan in 2021 as U.S. and NATO troops were concluding their withdrawal. In 2022, the Pakistani Taliban ended a cease-fire with the government in Islamabad and ordered its fighters to resume attacks across the country.
Pakistan has consistently urged the interim Afghan government to take action against “individuals and entities that threaten Pakistan” and fulfill its commitments to the international community.