Elite Force constable martyred, five terrorists killed in Swat operation

An Elite Force constable was martyred, while five terrorists were killed during a joint operation by police and the Counter-Terrorism Department (CTD) in the Matta area of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa’s Swat district, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Inspector General (IG) of Police Zulfiqar Hameed said on Wednesday.

Speaking at a press conference in Peshawar, IG Hameed said police had received prior intelligence regarding the terrorists’ movement into the area from Afghanistan.

“There were reports of the terrorists’ arrival from Afghanistan,” Hameed said, adding that Afghan terrorists also accompany terrorist groups entering these areas.

Referring to the recent suicide attack in Tank, the police chief said between 1,200 and 1,400 kilogrammes of explosives were used in the bombing.

On July 23, at least 15 security personnel and a government official were martyred after terrorists belonging to the “Indian-sponsored Fitna al Khwarij” attacked a joint police check post in K-P’s Tank district.

Hameed said all four terrorists killed in the Tank attack were Afghan nationals, adding that, “According to the investigation so far, none of the four has been established as Pakistani.”

The IG also drew parallels between the attack on a school in Dera Ismail Khan and the Tank suicide bombing, saying “the modus operandi in both attacks was not different.”

He further said that weapons and technology left behind by NATO are being used in the southern districts, adding that “the terrorists can’t obtain all of this without the assistance of the Afghan government.”

Earlier, security sources said that during the Swat operation, four terrorists had taken refuge inside a house and were using members of the household as human shields, complicating efforts by security forces to clear the area. “Using civilians as human shields is clear evidence of the terrorists’ cowardice and failure,” the sources said.

Security sources further said that forces had successfully secured control of a strategically important position after engaging the terrorists.

Fitna al-Khawarij is the term the state uses for terrorists belonging to the banned Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP).

According to the Associated Press of Pakistan (APP), Constable Gulfam Khan Bangash, a resident of the Fateh Khan Khel area of Kohat district, was part of an Elite Force unit conducting an operation against terrorists when he was fatally wounded in an exchange of fire.

Following the clash, security forces cordoned off the area and launched a search operation to track down terrorists who had fled the scene.

Authorities said arrangements were underway to transport Bangash’s body to his native village in Kohat, where he would be laid to rest with full official honours.

The recent incidents in K-P reflect the continued security challenges faced by the region. 

Read: 12 military men among 15 martyred in terrorist attack on security check post in K-P’s Tank

On July 13, two police officers were killed and two others injured when a suspected remote-controlled improvised explosive device (IED) struck a police armoured personnel carrier during a routine patrol on the Wana-Jandola Road in K-P’s Tank district.

On July 3, unidentified attackers carried out two separate acts of sabotage in Bannu district, targeting a government girls’ middle school and a key link bridge.

Explosives planted inside the Government Girls Middle School in Mama Khel damaged parts of the building, cracking classroom walls and shattering windows and doors.

In a separate incident in the Bachki area of Jani Khel, terrorists planted a drum filled with explosives beneath an important bridge, apparently attempting to disrupt transport links. Security forces and the Bomb Disposal Unit defused the device before it could cause damage.

On June 20, at least seven people were killed when a passenger vehicle was targeted in an IED attack in the region.

UNSC confirms rise in TTP attacks from Afghanistan

Terrorism has significantly increased in Pakistan, particularly in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan, in recent days. The rise in terrorist activity has led to growing concerns over the security situation in these regions. In response, security forces have been conducting intensive operations to counter the threat, targeting terrorist groups.

The United Nations Security Council (UNSC), in a report released in February, also drew attention to a series of attacks by the banned Baloch Liberation Army (BLA) against Pakistani security forces and projects linked to the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC).

Read More: Three more terrorists killed in ongoing Operation Shaban: security sources

“On September 16, 2025, the BLA ambushed a Pakistani military convoy patrolling the corridor, killing 32 troops. While counter-terrorism operations by Pakistan restricted the BLA’s operational space, it remained active”.

The report added that some member states reported that the BLA collaborated with the TTP and ISIL-K through shared training camps and resources, coordinating attacks and meetings between commanders. Some member states assessed that there was neither an association nor growing ties between the BLA and Al Qaeda or ISIL.

It further highlighted that various groups in Afghanistan had acquired modern weapons and equipment through cross-border smuggling and black-market trade. “TTP used advanced assault rifles, night-vision devices, thermal-imaging devices, sniper systems and drone attack systems. Most of these were provided by the de facto authorities in conjunction with weapons permits and travel documents,” it said.

In August 2025, the UN’s 1988 Taliban sanctions committee monitoring team’s annual report said outlawed terrorist groups – BLA, including its Majeed Brigade, and TTP had “close coordination”.

The UNSC report said “some BLA attacks showed a high degree of complexity and brutality”, citing the hijacking of the Jaffar Express in Balochistan on March 11, 2025, which killed 31 people, including 21 hostages.