Security forces neutralised nine terrorists linked to the India-backed Fitna al-Khawarij network in two intelligence-based operations (IBOs) carried out in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Tank and Lakki Marwat districts, the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) announced on Saturday. According to the military’s media wing, the operations were launched on December 5 after intelligence was received about the presence of militants in the two districts. In Tank, security forces “effectively engaged the Khawarij hideout,” resulting in an intense exchange of fire during which seven terrorists were killed.A separate operation in Lakki Marwat led to the killing of two more militants, the ISPR added. Recovered weapons and ammunition confirmed that the terrorists were involved in multiple attacks targeting security personnel, law enforcement agencies and innocent civilians. The ISPR said sanitisation operations are underway to clear the area of any remaining India-sponsored militants. It reaffirmed that the counterterrorism campaign under Azm-e-Istehkam will continue at full pace to eliminate foreign-backed terrorism from Pakistan. Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, President Asif Ali Zardari and Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi lauded the security forces for their “precise and successful” operations in Tank and Lakki Marwat. Pakistan has witnessed a significant surge in terrorist incidents, particularly in KP and Balochistan, since 2021 following the change of regime in Afghanistan. On November 25, 2025, ISPR Director General Lt Gen Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry revealed that 67,023 intelligence-based operations had been conducted across the country this year, most of them in KP and Balochistan, as part of ongoing counterterrorism efforts. He said that as many as 1,873 terrorists, including 136 Afghan nationals, have been killed in 12,857 IBOs carried out in KP and 53,309 in Balochistan this year till November 2025. Pakistan has time and again called on the Afghan Taliban regime in Kabul to prevent its soil from being used by terrorists against Pakistan, and the issue recently resulted in heightened tensions featuring cross-border attacks by the Afghan side, resulting in retaliation from Pakistani forces as well.