Radio Pakistan, citing security sources, reported Thursday that security forces killed 11 militants during intelligence-based operations in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan. The militants were affiliated with groups designated by the state as Fitna al Khawarij and Fitna al Hindustan. Pakistan refers to the banned Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan as Fitna al Khawarij and Balochistan-based groups it labels as being supported by India as Fitna al Hindustan.
Key Highlights
- Security forces kill 11 militants in Bannu, South Waziristan, Khuzdar operations
- President Zardari, Interior Minister Naqvi commend the operations
- The deadliest month was July 2026, with 205 people killed, including 112 security personnel
- Pakistan has performed more than 40,000 intelligence-led operations this year alone
- Military reports 2,084 confirmed militant deaths in 2026, highest daily average ever in history
Three Different Operations, One Coordinated Campaign
According to Radio Pakistan, security forces launched an intelligence-based operation against Fitna al Khawarij in Bannu, killing two militants and recovering weapons and ammunition. In another operation, forces killed five Khawarij militants in the Ladha area of South Waziristan. In another incident, security forces killed four Fitna al Hindustan militants in Sasool area of Khuzdar district with the help of a quadcopter to target them.
In a statement from the Presidency, President Asif Ali Zardari praised the security forces after the operations. “National security and durable peace require the removal of terrorist elements operating with foreign patronage,” he said, adding Pakistan would rid itself of terrorism altogether. “We are proud of the professional skills of our security forces and law enforcement agencies,” he said.
Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi expressed similar views in a statement issued by his ministry. He said the militants’ plans were foiled by timely action of security forces and the nation stands united against terrorism and in solidarity with those carrying out these operations.
This is the latest such operation after a similar large-scale operation on August 21 when the military’s media affairs wing said security forces killed 49 militants in separate intelligence-based operations in KP and Balochistan.
Independent Analysis: A Rough July
Nevertheless, individual operations are successful, but the broader security picture remains genuinely worrying. Violence linked to terrorist attacks and counter-terrorism operations surged in July, marking the deadliest month of 2026, a Pakistan Institute for Conflict and Security Studies, an Islamabad-based think tank, said. That month, 205 people were killed in all, including 112 security personnel.
Balochistan has experienced the worst fall. The province’s death toll jumped 241 percent, from 109 deaths in June to 372 in July. Mainland Khyber Pakhtunkhwa followed with 154 deaths in July compared to 75 in June, showing a 105 percent increase.
The Bigger Picture: Pakistan’s Counter-Terrorism Campaign in 2026
Stepping back, this year’s counter-terrorism effort has been unusually great in scale. According to the figures, DG ISPR Lieutenant General Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry said in a briefing in Rawalpindi that security forces carried out 40,348 intelligence-based operations during the first seven months of 2026 alone. That means, on average, about 194 operations a day across the armed forces, police, civil armed forces, and intelligence agencies combined.
Most of this activity was in Balochistan, where 31,080 operations were carried out in the province, compared with 7,177 in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. These operations have killed 2,084 confirmed militants this year, an average of nearly 10 deaths a day, which Chaudhry called the highest daily ratio on record to date. By comparison, 2,597 militants were killed in all of 2025, and the pace in 2026, with five months left at the time of the briefing, was already running close to last year’s full-year number.
Chaudhry said 3,145 incidents related to terrorism were recorded in the country this year, including 1,971 in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, 1,148 in Balochistan and 26 in other areas. 28 suicide attacks took place during this period, he said, and alleged that Afghan nationals were involved in most of these bombings and recent attacks in Tank and Karachi. He claimed India and Afghanistan have a common role in sponsoring terrorism against Pakistan and what he called propaganda narratives about deprivation, under-representation and missing persons.
“While casualty figures are increasing, the fundamental operational balance has really changed,” Chaudhry said. He said Pakistan now kills more than two militants for every security personnel killed, a ratio he said shows the state’s kinetic operations have become more effective over the years even as militant groups continue to mount frequent, often deadly attacks in both Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
