At least six Pakistan Army personnel, including a young captain, were killed while seven militants were gunned down during an intelligence-based operation in the Dogar area of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Kurram district, the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) said on Wednesday.
According to the ISPR statement, the operation targeted militants associated with Fitna al Khawarij, a term the army uses for members of the banned Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP). “During the operation, seven Indian-sponsored terrorists were neutralised through effective engagement by security forces,” the statement read, reports Dawn.
The fallen soldiers were identified as Captain Noman Saleem, 24, from Mianwali; Havaldar Amjad Ali, 39, from Swabi; Naik Waqas Ahmad, 36, from Rawalpindi; Sepoy Aijaz Ali, 23, from Shikarpur; Sepoy Muhammad Waleed, 23, from Jhelum; and Sepoy Muhammad Shahbaz, 32, from Khairpur.
Captain Noman, described as “a brave young medical officer,” reportedly continued to fight alongside his troops even while tending to the wounded before embracing martyrdom, the ISPR said.
A sanitisation operation was underway to ensure no further militant presence in the area, the statement added, noting that Pakistan’s security forces will continue their counterterrorism campaign under Azm-e-Istehkam — a vision endorsed by the Federal Apex Committee on the National Action Plan — to eradicate foreign-backed militancy from the country.
Pakistan has witnessed a renewed wave of militant attacks, particularly in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan, targeting police, law enforcement agencies, and military personnel. The upsurge followed the banned TTP’s 2022 withdrawal from a ceasefire agreement with the government.
Just days earlier, on 24–25 October, Pakistani troops thwarted two major infiltration attempts from Afghanistan, killing 25 militants — including four suicide bombers — and seizing a cache of weapons and explosives in separate operations in North Waziristan and Kurram.
The ISPR said troops “effectively engaged these groups of khawarij,” resulting in the elimination of 15 militants, including suicide bombers, linked to Fitna al Khawarij in Spinwam, North Waziristan.
