- One of the dead was the assassin Muhammad Nazir alias Mujahid.
- Weapons, including AK-47s and pistols, were recovered from the scene.
- Police say operations will continue until the last militant is eliminated.
PESHAWAR: Three militants were killed during an intelligence operation carried out jointly by Bannu region Counter Terrorism Department (CTD) and Lakki Marwat police in Darra Pegho Khel area, officials said on Sunday.
According to the CTD, the operation was launched after receiving credible information about the presence of militants involved in attacks against police, security forces and civilians.
One of the slain terrorists was identified as the target assassin, Muhammad Nazir alias Mujahid. Authorities said he was involved in the murder of traffic police officers and a CTD official.
The other two militants were identified as Fawadullah alias Muaz and Afnan Khan alias Afnani. The CTD said the two were wanted in several cases related to the targeted killing of security personnel.
Security forces recovered weapons from the possession of the slain militants, including a Kalashnikov rifle, two 9mm pistols and mobile phones. Three cards linked to a banned organization were also found at the scene, authorities 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 become increasingly difficult for terrorists and promised that anti-militancy operations would continue until the last militant was eliminated.
Terrorist attacks have seen a sharp rise in Pakistan, particularly in the border provinces of KP and Balochistan, since 2021, when the Afghan Taliban regime came to power.
Director General Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) Lieutenant General Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry, in a statement on November 25, 2025, said that 67,023 Intelligence Based Operations (IBOs) were carried out across Pakistan, mainly in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) and Balochistan, during the current year as part of counter-terrorism 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 as of November 2025.
Pakistan has time and again asked the Afghan Taliban regime in Kabul to prevent its territory from being used by terrorists against Pakistan, and the issue recently resulted in rising tensions with cross-border attacks by the Afghan side, which also resulted in retaliation by Pakistani forces.
