Pakistan: 11 soldiers, 19 TTP militants killed in deadly Northwest clash

Peshawar: In a major security operation in Pakistan’s restive Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, 19 militants from the banned Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) were killed along with 11 soldiers, the military said on Wednesday.

The overnight intelligence-based raid, conducted in Orakzai district near the Afghan border, targeted terrorists linked to “Fitna al-Khawarij,” a term used for the TTP. Military officials said the fierce firefight claimed the lives of a Lieutenant Colonel and a Major among the slain soldiers.

A sanitisation operation is underway to clear the area of any remaining fighters.

Pakistan has witnessed a surge in militant violence since the TTP ended its ceasefire in November 2022, vowing to attack security, police, and law enforcement personnel. Recent data from the Centre for Research and Security Studies shows Khyber Pakhtunkhwa accounted for 71% of the country’s violence-linked deaths and 67% of incidents in the third quarter of 2025, with KPK and Balochistan — both bordering Afghanistan — bearing over 96% of all terrorism fatalities nationwide.

With inputs from PTI