The military’s media affairs wing said on Thursday that 13 Indian-sponsored terrorists were killed in two foiled infiltration attempts along the Pak-Afghan border in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

In a statement, Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) said that the 13 Fitna al Khawarij terrorists were killed last night.

Fitna al Khawarij is a term the state uses for terrorists belonging to the banned Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan.

ISPR said that in KP’s Mohmand district, the movement of a group of terrorists trying to infiltrate the Pak-Afghan border was picked up by security forces.

“Own troops effectively engaged this group of khawarij. As a result of precise and skillful engagement, eight khwarij belonging to the Indian-sponsored, Fitna al Khawarij were sent to hell,” it said.

It added that troops also foiled another infiltration attempt by a group of khawarij along the Pak-Afghan border in KP’s North Waziristan district. It added that after an intense exchange of fire, five terrorists were killed.

“These engagements once again substantiate Pakistan’s repeated stance regarding the abject failure of the Afghan Taliban regime to ensure effective border management on their side,” ISPR said.

“The Afghan Taliban regime must fulfil its obligations and deny the use of Afghan soil by khawarij and the involvement of its citizens in terrorism inside Pakistan,” it said.

It added that Pakistan’s security forces remained resolute and unwavering in their commitment to defend the nation’s frontiers. ISPR said that sanitisation operations were being conducted to eliminate other terrorists in the area, adding that the counterterrorism campaign would continue at full pace to wipe out the menace of foreign-sponsored and supported terrorism from the country.

There has been a resurgence in terrorism in Pakistan since the Afghan Taliban returned to power in Kabul in 2021.

Islamabad has repeatedly urged the Taliban administration to dismantle terrorist sanctuaries on Afghan soil, particularly those linked to the banned TTP. Officials say those appeals have gone unheeded.

Following unprovoked firing by the Afghan Taliban from across the border, Pakistan launched Operation Ghazab lil-Haq on the night of February 26.

A five-day temporary pause was observed from March 18 to 23 on the occasion of Eidul Fitr, with the Foreign Office later saying the operation would continue “until its objectives are achieved”.

Last year in November, ISPR Director General Lieutenant General Ahmad Sharif Chaudhry told journalists that Afghan forces open fire at Pakistani checkposts across the border to facilitate the infiltration of terrorists into the country.