Daily Times

An Afghan national who was “involved in terrorism inside Pakistan” was killed during an operation in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s North Waziristan district earlier this week, the military’s media wing said on Saturday.

Islamabad has consistently voiced concerns that the banned Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) uses Afghan soil to launch attacks in Pakistan, asking the Afghanistan government to rein in the group. Kabul denies the allegations.

A press release from the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) said: “On 6 February 2025, an Afghan national involved in terrorism inside Pakistan was killed during an operation conducted by the security forces in general area Datta Khel of North Waziristan.”

The statement apparently referred to an intelligence-based operation (IBO) in which security forces killed three terrorists “who were trying to escape wearing women’s attire (burqa)”.

“The individual was later identified as Luqman Khan alias Nusrat (Afghan national), son of Kamal Khan, resident of Spera District, Khost Province, Afghanistan,” the ISPR said.

It further stated that the interim Afghan government authorities had been “approached to take over the body of the individual, being an Afghan citizen”. “Such incidents are irrefutable evidence of involvement of Afghan nationals in terrorist activities in Pakistan,” the military asserted.

“Interim Afghan government is expected to fulfil its obligations and deny the use of Afghan soil by terrorists for perpetuating acts of terrorism against Pakistan.”

Last month, Pakistan repatriated the body of an Afghan national involved in terrorist activities who was killed in an IBO in Balochistan’s Zhob district.

In a press conference in December, ISPR Director General (DG) Lieutenant General Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry said that terrorist outfits were being provided “sanctuaries, support, and are allowed unrestrained activities on Afghan territory”.

Pakistan has recently witnessed an uptick in terror activities, especially in KP and Balochistan.

Terror attacks have increased since the banned TTP broke a fragile ceasefire agreement with the government in 2022.

With at least 685 members of security forces losing their lives amid a total of 444 terror attacks, 2024 turned out to be the deadliest year for the civil and military security forces of Pakistan in a decade, according to a 2024 report issued by the Center for Research and Security Studies (CRSS) think-tank.

According to DG ISPR, security forces conducted a total of 59,775 operations last year during which 925 terrorists were killed and 383 officers and soldiers were martyred.