Security forces have killed 17 terrorists in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s North Waziristan district near the Pakistan-Afghanistan border, the military’s media wing said on Monday.

A day ago, the forces had neutralised 54 terrorists while they were attempting to infiltrate through the Pakistan-Afghanistan border in the same region. According to the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), this is the highest-ever number of terrorists killed by security forces in a single engagement throughout the campaign against terrorism.

According to an ISPR statement issued today, “a deliberate sanitisation operation was conducted in surrounding areas of Hassan Khel, North Waziristan District, along Pakistan-Afghanistan Border.

“During the conduct of the operation, seventeen more khawarij, who were operating [at] behest of their Indian masters, were hunted down and successfully neutralised,” ISPR said.

The ISPR added that a large cache of weapons, ammunition and explosives was also recovered from the slain khawarij, a term the state uses to refer to terrorists.

“The number of khwarij killed in three days anti [infiltration] operation has risen to 71,” it added.

The security forces remain committed to securing the nation’s frontiers and thwart attempts at sabotaging the peace, stability and progress of Pakistan, the statement said.

Separately, President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif paid tribute to the security forces for the operation in North Waziristan.

According to Associated Press of Pakistan (APP), the president and the prime minister lauded the bravery of the security forces in separate statements.

The president reaffirmed to continuation of security operations until the complete eradication of terrorism.

“The successful operations by our security forces against terrorists are commendable,” the president said, vowing to uphold the unwavering commitment to the defence of the country and the elimination of terrorism.

The premier pointed out, “The killing of 71 Khawarij terrorists during the security operations in North Waziristan over the past three days clearly shows that our law enforcement agencies are fully determined and vigilant in their mission to eliminate terrorism.”

“We will continue to thwart the nefarious designs of these terrorists (enemies of humanity), in the same resolute manner,” he said, expressing the determination to continue the war against terrorism until the complete eradication of terrorists.

Pakistan has witnessed an uptick in terror activities over the past year, especially in KP and Balochistan, after the proscribed Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan ended its ceasefire with the government in November 2022.

Militant violence and security operations intensified in March, with the number of militant attacks surpassing 100 for the first time since November 2014, according to a report by the Pakistan Institute for Conflict and Security Studies.

Pakistan ranked second in the Global Terrorism Index 2025, with the number of deaths in terrorist attacks rising by 45 per cent over the past year to 1,081.