Security forces, as part of ongoing anti-terror efforts, eliminated 22 India-backed terrorists in an intelligence-based operation in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa's Bannu district, the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) said on Tuesday.
The operation conducted on November 24, was carried out on the reported presence of Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP)terrorists, also called "Fitna al-Khawarij," involved intense fire exchange between militants and security forces, as per the military's media wing.
The ISPR said a sanitisation operation had been launched to eliminate any other Indian-proxy terrorist in the area and vowed continuation of the relentless counter-terrorism campaign under the vision "Azm-e-Istehkam" to root out the menace of terrorism.
President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif have paid tribute to the security forces for the successful operation against terrorists.
In their separate statements, they commended the security forces for achieving significant successes counterterrorism campaign.
The President and PM said the entire nation stands resolute alongside the security forces in this war against terrorism.
The IBO comes a day after three terrorists were killed in an attack on Federal Constabulary (FC) headquarters in Peshawar, which also resulted in the martyrdom of three FC personnel.
A suicide bomber, as per a preliminary police report, a suicide bomber approached the main gate of the FC Headquarters, covering himself. He detonated explosives at the checkpoint, martyring three personnel on the spot.
Immediately following the blast, two more attackers entered the headquarters compound from a side gate. Both were armed with rifles and hand grenades. They advanced towards the motorcycle stand on the right side of the compound, intending to take hostages. Security personnel engaged the attackers in a firefight, killing both.
Last week, eight Indian-proxy terrorists were killedin an IBO in Bannu, whereas before that 13 were neutralised in two separate KP operations in Lakki Marwat and Dera Ismail Khan.
Terrorist attacks have seen a sharp increase in Pakistan, particularly in the bordering provinces of KP and Balochistan, since 2021, when the Afghan Taliban regime came into power.
A police report noted that KP alone recorded over 600 terror incidents, in which at least 79 police personnel were martyred alongside 138 civilians, during the first eight months of 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.
This is a developing story and is being updated with more details.