Security forces have killed three terrorists described by officials as India-backed during an intelligence-based DI Khan operation in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, security sources said on Monday. The strike came a day after eight militants, including three key commanders of the banned Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan, were killed in the same district — capping a weekend in which independent reporting puts the province-wide toll at 13.
Key Facts
- Three terrorists killed in an intelligence-based operation in Dera Ismail Khan on Monday, according to security sources.
- The Frontier Post independently reports 13 militants killed in two KP operations — 10 in the Pahar Khel area of Lakki Marwat and three in the DI Khan IBO; arms and ammunition were recovered.
- A day earlier, eight Fitna al-Khawarij militants, including three key commanders, were killed in another DI Khan operation; weapons, ammunition and foreign currency were seized.
- President Asif Ali Zardari, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi paid tribute to the security forces.
- September 2026 was Pakistan’s deadliest month in 12 years: 225 militant attacks nationwide, up 13% on August, according to the independent PICSS think tank.
- The “India-backed” description is the Pakistani security establishment’s framing of the militants; it is reported here strictly as an attributed claim.
Three killed in Monday’s DI Khan operation
According to security sources, the intelligence-based operation was launched after reports indicated the presence of militants in the Dera Ismail Khan district. The sources said the three men were linked to what the security establishment calls an India-sponsored terrorist network, and that arms and ammunition were recovered from the site.
The account was independently echoed by The Frontier Post, which reported from Rawalpindi that security forces had carried out two successful operations in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, eliminating 13 terrorists in total — 10 in a joint operation in the Pahar Khel area of Lakki Marwat and three more in the intelligence-based operation in Dera Ismail Khan. The paper said a sanitisation operation was under way to make sure no militants remained in the areas.
Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi praised the security forces, police and the Counter Terrorism Department for the operations, saying they had once again thwarted the designs of the enemies of peace, and vowed that operations would continue until terrorism was eliminated.
Second DI Khan operation in two days
The latest strike follows Sunday’s larger operation in the same district, in which security forces killed eight terrorists of Fitna al-Khawarij — the state’s term for the banned Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan — including three key commanders. Security sources said a large cache of weapons and ammunition, along with foreign currency, was recovered from the dead militants.
Security personnel at a checkpoint in Dera Ismail Khan, where intelligence-based operations have intensified under the Azm-e-Istehkam vision.
The operation drew tributes from the country’s top leadership. President Asif Ali Zardari commended the forces and said the designs of terrorists operating with foreign patronage would be foiled, calling for operations against Fitna al-Khawarij to continue with full force under the Azm-e-Istehkam vision. Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif lauded the bravery of the personnel, while Interior Minister Naqvi said Khyber Pakhtunkhwa remained on the front line of the fight against terrorism.
A day before that, security forces killed 11 militants in separate operations in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan — including five in South Waziristan and others in the Gorindar-Mashkel area of Balochistan, according to state media reports.
September: deadliest month in 12 years
The operations come against a sharp escalation in militant violence. According to data compiled by the Pakistan Institute for Conflict and Security Studies (PICSS), an Islamabad-based independent think tank, 225 militant attacks were recorded across Pakistan in September 2026, compared with 199 in August — an increase of 13%. It was the highest monthly total in 12 years, and the third consecutive monthly rise.
Pakistan has witnessed a sharp rise in cross-border terrorist incidents, particularly in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan, since the Afghan Taliban returned to power in 2021. Islamabad has repeatedly urged Kabul to prevent its territory from being used by militant groups for attacks inside Pakistan — a position Kabul disputes.
What “India-backed” and “Fitna al-Khawarij” mean
Pakistani authorities use the term Fitna al-Khawarij for the banned Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan, and have designated Baloch separatist groups as Fitna al-Hindustan to highlight what they describe as India’s role in terrorism and destabilisation inside Pakistan. The “India-backed” and “India-sponsored” labels in these operation reports therefore reflect the security establishment’s assessment. New Delhi disputes such characterisations, and the claims of foreign backing could not be independently verified; Watan News reports them strictly as attributed claims.
Azm-e-Istehkam and the wider campaign
Security sources said the weekend’s operations were conducted under the Azm-e-Istehkam counter-terrorism vision, which frames the current phase of intelligence-led actions against militant networks in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan. Officials say the sustained operations are disrupting the militants’ ability to plan and carry out attacks — while September’s record violence shows the scale of the challenge that remains.
Conclusion
Two intelligence-based operations in Dera Ismail Khan within 48 hours — leaving 11 militants dead, including three commanders — underline how heavily the counter-terrorism campaign is now concentrated in southern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. With September recording the worst monthly violence in 12 years, the pressure on the security forces is unlikely to ease. The official claim of Indian backing for the militants remains exactly that — an official claim, reported with attribution — while the fact of the operations themselves is confirmed by multiple independent outlets.
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