Four India-sponsored terrorists killed in DI Khan IBO: ISPR

• IBO conducted on reported presence of India-backed terrorists: ISPR.
• Says weapons and ammunition recovered from killed khawarij.
• Military vows to continue relentless counter-terrorism drive.

Security forces neutralised four India-sponsored terrorists during an intelligence-based operation (IBO) in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Dera Ismail Khan district, the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) said on Monday.

The IBO was conducted on February 23 following the reported presence of “khwarij belonging to Indian proxy, Fitna al Khwarij,” the military’s media wing said.

It added that troops effectively engaged the terrorists’ location and killed them after an intense fire exchange during the operation.

Weapons and ammunition were also recovered from the killed terrorists, who remained actively involved in numerous terrorist activities in the area.

A sanitisation operation was launched to eliminate any other Indian-sponsored terrorist found in the area, the ISPR statement read.

“The relentless counter-terrorism campaign under vision “Azm-e-Istehkam” (as approved by the Federal Apex Committee on National Action Plan) by security forces and law enforcement agencies of Pakistan will continue at full pace to wipe out the menace of foreign-sponsored and supported terrorism from the country,” the statement added.

Meanwhile, in another IBO, five terrorists were killed in Balochistan’s Pishin district, the ISPR said earlier today.

The military’s media wing said that the troops effectively engaged the “entire tashkeel with multiple weapons”, which resulted in an intense fire exchange.

Following that, a suicide bomber cowardly blew himself up, and four other India-sponsored khwarij “were hunted down and sent to hell”.

Weapons, ammunition and explosives were also recovered from the militants, who remained actively involved in numerous terrorist activities in the area.

Islamabad-Kabul tensions

Since the Taliban regained control of Afghanistan in 2021, Pakistan has seen an increase in cross-border terrorist activity, particularly in the provinces of KP and Balochistan, which share a border with Afghanistan.

Amid the rising terror incidents, Pakistan last Saturday carried out intelligence-based strikes targeting seven terrorist camps and hideouts belonging to Fitna al Khawarij (FAK), its affiliates and the Daesh-Khorasan along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border in response to recent suicide attacks.

The airstrikes were carried out in Nangarhar, Paktika and Khost provinces of Afghanistan, the security sources said, adding that more than 80 militants were killed in the airstrikes.

The two countries, back in October 2025, were also engaged in border clashes after the Afghan Taliban and militants launched unprovoked attacks against Pakistan’s border posts.

The resulting clashes led to the killing of over 200 Taliban and affiliated militants, while 23 Pakistani soldiers were martyred defending the motherland.

However, despite many rounds of talks, both countries failed to reach an agreement due to the Afghan Taliban regime’s reluctance to take action against terrorist outfits.