Pakistan: As Munir tries to sell truce to the US and Iran, his army kills 22 ‘terrorists’
Virendra Pandit
New Delhi: Amid reports that the army in Pakistan, which is officially trying to broker a ceasefire between the US and Iran, but also pushing in Sunni terrorists into a Shia-dominated Iran, has killed 22 ‘terrorists’ in the restive country’s northwest Khyber Pakhtunkhwa district.
After the killing of a 10-year-old child, at least 22 terrorists were killed during an intelligence-based operation by Pakistan’s security forces and law enforcement agencies, the military said, according to media reports on Friday.
On April 21, a joint intelligence-based operation was conducted by security forces and law enforcement agencies in Khyber District on the reported presence of terrorists, belonging to Fitna-al-Khwarij, the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), the media wing of the military, said in a statement.
Fitna al-Khawarij (Mischief-making Rebels) is a term Islamabad uses to refer to the banned Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP).
“Terrorists resorted to indiscriminate firing, which resulted in the killing of a ten-year-old child.” Sanitisation operations are underway to eliminate any remaining terrorists in the area.
The ISPR statement highlighted that the counter-terrorism campaign under the vision “Azm-e-Istehkam,” (Counter-Insurgency Operation), approved by the Federal Apex Committee on the National Action Plan, will continue at full pace.
“Security forces of Pakistan will continue at full pace to wipe out the menace of terrorism…”
President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif have commended security forces for their successful operation in Khyber.
In separate statements, they expressed profound grief over the death of a 10-year-old child, who was allegedly killed by indiscriminate firing from the terrorists, Radio Pakistan reported.
The President noted that while Pakistan continues to strive for regional and global peace, terrorists are attempting to undermine these efforts. He affirmed that Pakistan remains committed to defeating terrorism and maintaining its role in promoting stability.
Despite record terror deaths, Pakistan saw a sharp escalation in terrorist violence in 2025, with terrorist attacks rising by 34 per cent and terrorism-related fatalities increasing by 21 per cent year on year, according to a report released by the Islamabad-based Pakistan Institute for Peace Studies.
KP in particular has seen a rise in terrorist attacks in the past year.
According to the Annual Security Report 2025 from the Centre for Research and Security Studies (CRSS), the province recorded a significant surge in violence last year as “fatalities rose from 1,620 in 2024 to 2,331 in 2025.”
Due to a resurgence of militancy, especially in KP and Baluchistan, where attacks often target security personnel and LEAs, the state has intensified counter-terrorism operations.
Last month, security forces killed 13 terrorists in five separate operations across KP.
