Pakistan says 30 'India-backed' militants killed near Afghan border

Pakistani security forces killed 30 “Indian-sponsored” militants during a foiled cross-border infiltration attempt from Afghanistan into the country’s northwestern region earlier this week, the military said in a statement.

The Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), the military’s media wing, said Friday that members of the banned group Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), referred to by the military as “Fitna al Khwarij,” were intercepted in the Hassan Khel area of North Waziristan on the nights of July 1–2 and July 2–3.

According to the ISPR, the assailants were "Indian-sponsored", and a large cache of weapons, ammunition, and explosives was recovered from the site.

The military praised its personnel for their “exceptional professionalism, vigilance, and preparedness,” saying the troops had “prevented a potential catastrophe.”

The statement accused India of supporting the militants and called on the interim Afghan government to prevent the use of its soil by what it termed “foreign proxies” for attacks against Pakistan.

“The security forces of Pakistan remain resolute and unwavering in their commitment to defend the nation’s frontiers and to eradicate the menace of Indian-sponsored terrorism from the country,” the military said.

Islamabad has frequently blamed both New Delhi and Kabul for fueling insurgency in its western regions. India and Afghanistan’s Taliban government have repeatedly denied the accusations.

North Waziristan, which lies along Pakistan’s porous border with Afghanistan, has seen a surge in violence since a ceasefire with TTP collapsed in late 2022.

Last week, a suicide bomber attacked a military convoy in the same district, killing 13 soldiers and injuring many others, including civilians.

The outlawed Usood-ul-Harb group, specifically its suicide unit Huzaifa Istishhadi Kandak, a sub-faction of the Hafiz Gul Bahadar group, claimed responsibility for the deadly suicide bombing.

Security sources believe the group receives operational support from the TTP, though new aliases are frequently adopted to mask the TTP’s direct role in such attacks.

The attack came during a 30-day dusk-to-dawn curfew imposed by the North Waziristan district administration to restrict the movement of people and vehicles to support “public safety, law and order, movement of security forces, and [to] restrict the movement of outlaws.”

The infiltration and military response come amid growing fears that the ongoing instability in Afghanistan is spilling over into Pakistan, especially in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, where militants have carried out numerous attacks on security personnel and law enforcement.

Authorities say many of these militants are using Afghan territory as a safe haven to regroup and launch operations, but diplomatic efforts to address the issue with Kabul have yielded limited results.