ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s security forces have killed four ‘Indian backed’ terrorists in an intelligence-based operation (IBO) in northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, military’s media wing in a statement said on Thursday.
On night of 18/19 February 2026, the security forces conducted the operation on the reported presence of khwarij belonging to Indian Proxy, Fitna al Khwarij, according to a statement by Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR).
The term Fitna al-Khawarij is used by Pakistan’s government and military to refer to the banned terrorist groups, most prominently the banned Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) terrorist group.
During the conduct of operation, own troops effectively engaged the Khwarij location and after an intense fire exchange, four Khwarij were sent to hell, ISPR said.
Weapons and ammunition were also recovered from Indian sponsored killed Khwarij, who remained actively involved in numerous terrorist activities in the area.
The military’s media wing stated that sanitization operations are being conducted to eliminate any other Indian sponsored terrorists found in the area.
The relentless counterterrorism campaign by security forces and law enforcement agencies would continue at full pace to wipe out foreign-sponsored and supported terrorism from the country, ISPR said.
The counterterrorism campaign was initiated under the vision “Azm e Istehkam” as approved by the Federal Apex Committee on the National Action Plan.
Pakistan has witnessed a surge in cross-border terror incidents since Taliban rulers returned to Afghanistan in 2021, particularly in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan provinces.
Pakistan said the Afghan Taliban regime’s continued support for terrorist groups had enabled them to carry out attacks against the Pakistan military and civilian population along the Pak-Afghan border and in adjoining areas.
In March, 2025, Pakistan ranked second in the Global Terrorism Index 2025, with the number of deaths in terrorist attacks rising by 45 percent as compared to the previous year.
In October last year the Islamabad-based think tank Centre for Research and Security Studies said that violence had surged in the third quarter of 2025 due to a spike in terrorist attacks and intensified counter-terrorism operations.
