Six Pakistani soldiers, including an army captain, were killed on Wednesday during an intelligence-based operation in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Kurram District, the military’s media wing said.
According to a statement issued by the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), the operation was conducted in the Dogar area on reports of the presence of militants belonging to the Indian proxy group Fitna al Khawarij.
During the operation, seven militants described by the military as “Indian-sponsored Khawarij” were killed in an exchange of fire.
The statement said Captain Noman Saleem, 24, a medical officer from Mianwali, was among those killed.
“He not only performed his medical duties but also fought gallantly and embraced Shahadat,” ISPR said.
Five other soldiers were also killed in the clash. They include Havildar 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.
ISPR said a sanitization operation is underway in the area to eliminate any remaining militants.
The military added that the counterterrorism campaign, Azm-e-Istehkam, approved by the Federal Apex Committee on the National Action Plan, will continue “at full pace to wipe out the menace of foreign-sponsored terrorism from the country.”
The operation comes amid heightened tensions between Pakistan and Afghanistan.
Earlier in the day, Pakistan’s defense minister Khawaja Asif issued a strongly worded warning to the Afghan Taliban, telling them not to carry out “terrorist or suicide attacks” on Pakistani soil.
“Pakistan will not tolerate any terrorist or suicide attacks on its soil, and any adventurism will be met with a harsh and bitter response,” Asif said on X.
Previously, talks aimed at securing a long-term truce between Afghanistan and Pakistan concluded in Istanbul without a “workable solution,” dealing a blow to peace efforts after deadly border clashes earlier this month.
A ceasefire was brokered in Doha on Oct. 19, but a second round of talks in Istanbul, mediated by Turkey and Qatar, ended without progress, with each side blaming the other for the failure.
A Pakistani security source said the Taliban were unwilling to commit to curbing the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), which Islamabad says operates freely inside Afghanistan.
An Afghan source familiar with the talks said they ended after “tense exchanges,” adding that Kabul told Islamabad it has no control over the TTP, which has carried out multiple attacks in recent weeks.
The clashes began earlier this month after Pakistani airstrikes in Kabul and other locations targeted the head of the Pakistani Taliban. The Taliban responded with attacks on Pakistani military posts along the 2,600-kilometer (1,600-mile) border.
Despite the ceasefire, weekend clashes killed five Pakistani soldiers and 25 Pakistani Taliban militants near the border, the military confirmed Sunday.
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