Target killer among three militants shot dead in Lakki Marwat CTD raid

• One of the dead was target killer Muhammad Nazir alias Mujahid.
• Weapons, including AK-47 and pistols, were recovered from site.
• Police say operations to continue until last militant is eliminated.
  

PESHAWAR: Three militants were killed during an intelligence-based operation carried out jointly by the Counter-Terrorism Department (CTD) Bannu region and Lakki Marwat police in the Darra Pegho Khel area, officials said on Sunday.

According to the CTD, the operation was launched after receiving credible intelligence about the presence of militants involved in attacks on police, security forces and civilians.

One of the slain terrorists was identified as a target killer, Muhammad Nazir alias Mujahid. Officials said he was involved in the killing of traffic police constables and a CTD official.

The other two militants were identified as Fawadullah alias Muaz and Afnan Khan alias Afnani. The CTD said both were wanted in several cases related to the targeted killing of security personnel.

Security forces recovered weapons from the possession of the killed militants, including a Kalashnikov rifle, two 9mm pistols and mobile phones. Three cards linked to a banned organisation were also found at the scene, officials added.

Inspector General of Police Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Zulfiqar Hameed and Additional IGP CTD praised the CTD and police teams for the successful operation.

The IGP said the land of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa had been made increasingly difficult for terrorists and vowed that operations against militancy would continue until the last militant was eliminated.

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.

Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) Director General Lt Gen Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry, in a statement on November 25, 2025, said that 67,023 intelligence-based operations (IBOs) were conducted across Pakistan — mostly in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) and Balochistan — during the ongoing year as part of counterterrorism efforts.

He said that as many as 1,873 terrorists, including 136 Afghan nationals, have been killed in 12,857 IBOs carried out in KP and 53,309 in Balochistan this year till November 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.