Eight Militants Killed in North Waziristan Intelligence Operation
NORTH WAZIRISTAN, PAKISTAN — WEB DESK: Pakistani security forces killed eight militants during an intelligence-based operation in North Waziristan district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa on Thursday, according to security sources.
Security sources said the operation was launched against suspected militant positions following intelligence about their presence in the area.
The sources said security personnel targeted the positions during the operation and destroyed the militants’ hideouts. A substantial quantity of weapons, ammunition and other equipment was also recovered following the action.
Radio Pakistan, citing security sources, independently reported the same death toll and said the hideouts had been destroyed and weapons and ammunition recovered.
Dunya News reported an additional claim from security sources that the militants attempted to use a mosque as cover during the operation. According to those sources, security personnel took the sanctity of the mosque into consideration while carrying out the action.
That detail is based on the security sources’ account and has not been independently verified.
No casualties among security personnel were reported in the initial accounts reviewed at publication time. Authorities had also not publicly released the identities of the eight men reported killed.
North Waziristan Sees Repeated Security Operations
Thursday’s operation comes amid a series of recent counterterrorism actions in North Waziristan and other districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
On September 18, the Inter-Services Public Relations said security forces had conducted an intelligence-based operation in North Waziristan after receiving information about the presence of militants. The military said six militants were killed in that operation.
In separate engagements in North Waziristan and Hangu between September 15 and 17, the military reported that 10 militants were killed, while six Pakistani soldiers were killed after an improvised explosive device struck a security forces convoy.
Earlier this month, ISPR said security forces had also killed 15 militants attempting to cross the Pakistan-Afghanistan border opposite North Waziristan during an engagement lasting around 36 hours.
The latest operation also comes during heightened security tensions along Pakistan’s western border. On Wednesday, Pakistani security sources said the country’s air defence system had shot down eight drones that entered Pakistani airspace from Afghanistan, four near Torkham and another four near the Kohat border area.
Pakistan subsequently said it carried out strikes against suspected militant sites near the Afghan border following recent attacks in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. Information Minister Attaullah Tarar said Islamabad did not seek escalation but would take measures it considered necessary to protect the country.
The Taliban government in Afghanistan has previously rejected Pakistani allegations that Afghan territory is being used to facilitate attacks inside Pakistan, making claims about cross-border responsibility politically contested.
For Thursday’s North Waziristan operation specifically, the information available so far comes primarily from Pakistani security sources rather than a detailed ISPR statement. Further official information on the location of the operation, identities or affiliations of those killed and any follow-up clearance activity had not been released at the time of publication.
