Thirty terrorists involved in the Orakzai incident earlier this week — during which 11 security personnel, including two officers, were martyred — were killed in a “retribution operation”, the military’s media affairs wing said on Friday.
The incident in Orakzai took place on Tuesday night when security forces conducted an intelligence-based operation in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Orakzai district on the reported presence of “Indian proxy Fitna Al Khawarij”.
In July, the government designated the banned terrorist outfit Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan as Fitna al Khawarij, mandating all institutions to use the term khariji (outcast) when referring to the perpetrators of terrorist attacks on Pakistan.
In the Tuesday operation, 19 “India-sponsored” terrorists were killed, the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) said, adding that 11 security personnel, including two officers, had also embraced martyrdom during the exchange of fire.
In a statement issued today, the ISPR said, “Security forces have been conducting a series of retribution operations against the kharijis involved in [the] heinous incident that occurred in Orakzai District on October 7, resulting in the shahadat of brave sons of soil, including Lieutenant Colonel Junaid Tariq and Major Tayyab Rahat.”
It added that during an operation in the Jamal Maya area of Orakzai, conducted on the basis of credible intelligence, “all 30 India-sponsored khwarij involved in the terrorist incident have been sent to hell” after an intense exchange of fire.
“These successful operations have avenged the heinous act and have brought the main perpetrators to justice,” the statement read.
It said sanitisaton operations were under way to “hunt and eliminate any other India-sponsored khariji found in the area, as the security forces of Pakistan are determined and remain steadfast to eradicate and wipe out the menace of India-sponsored terrorism from the country”.
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said that security personnel were engaged in “safeguarding the motherland against the enemy by risking their lives”.
According to state-run Radio Pakistan, he also reiterated the government’s resolve to stamp out the menace of terrorism from the country.
President Asif Ali Zardari, in a statement on the PPP’s X account, lauded the security forces’ “courageous” operation against “India-sponsored terrorists”.
It quoted the president as saying that the nation would forever remember the sacrifices of Lieutenant Colonel Tariq and Major Rahat and that security forces had made the nation proud by dismantling a network of terrorists.
“Continuous successes against terrorism reflect our resolve, [and] the brave sons of the soil have written history by sacrificing their lives for the protection of the motherland,” the president added.
Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi also lauded the efforts of security forces, saying that the nation stood with them in the fight against terrorism.
A statement posted on the interior ministry’s X account quoted Naqvi as saying, “I pay tribute to the security forces for thwarting the designs of the Fitna Al Khawarij terrorists. The security forces achieved great success by bringing 30 terrorists to a decisive end.
“We will not let the terrorists of Fitna Al Khawarij hide anywhere in Pakistan,” he said.
Pakistan has witnessed a surge in terrorist attacks, especially in KP and Balochistan, predominantly targeting the police, law enforcement agencies’ personnel, and security forces. Attacks increased after the banned TTP broke a ceasefire agreement with the government in 2022.
Just a day after the Orakzai incident, a major of the Pakistan Army was martyred and seven terrorists were killed during an IBO in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Dera Ismail Khan district.
Last month, 19 soldiers were martyred in KP in multiple incidents in a span of a few days.
Following that, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif had said that the “Afghan interim government has been clearly told to choose between supporting the khawarij or stand with Pakistan”.
Islamabad has been raising concerns over the presence of TTP terrorists in Afghanistan, maintaining that they have been involved in attacks inside Pakistan. It has repeatedly urged Kabul to take action to prevent these attacks. But Afghan authorities have consistently denied the allegations.
Pakistan has also accused India of sponsoring cross-border terrorism. In May, the government designated all terrorist organisations in Balochistan as Fitna al Hindustan — a phrase aimed at framing India’s alleged role in terrorism as a deliberate destabilisation strategy, potentially to galvanise domestic support.
After Tuesday’s IBO in Orakzai, a statement from the ISPR said the participants at the 272nd Corps Commanders’ Conference held at General Headquarters on Wednesday had expressed the resolve to pursue “comprehensive counterterrorism operations across all domains to continue to dismantle the networks of “Indian-sponsored terror proxies” such as the Fitna al Khawarij and Fitna al Hindustan.
A day ago, PM Shehbaz said during a meeting of the federal cabinet that the nation was united in its resolve to eradicate terrorism from the country, and the government would take all measures to crush violence perpetrated from across the border.
Defence Minister Khawaja Asif issued a similar warning in the National Assembly same day about going after terrorist facilitators “wherever they are”. Saying “enough is enough”, he added that the facilitators of terrorism would have to pay, whether they were present on Pakistani or Afghan soil.
American Dollar Exchange Rate