Overview
- Security forces detected a group trying to cross from Afghanistan on the night of August 31 to September 1 and killed 15 militants after a 36-hour engagement, the military’s media wing said.
- A follow-up sanitisation sweep recovered a large quantity of weapons and ammunition from the site, the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) reported.
- Separately, an intelligence-based operation in Kalat district, Balochistan on September 2 killed 12 suspected militants and destroyed improvised explosive devices and ammunition.
- The military identified the fighters as state-designated groups Fitna al-Khawarij and Fitna al-Hindustan and described them as India-sponsored, a claim made by official sources that has not been independently verified and drew no immediate comment from Kabul or New Delhi.
- Analysts point out that Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan have accounted for most violence this year, Pakistan’s leaders praised the troops, and the military says the Azm-e-Istehkam campaign will continue, a stance that may raise further diplomatic pressure on the Afghan Taliban.