Pakistani security forces carried out coordinated operations on November 16 and 17 in the Bajaur and Bannu districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, killing 23 foreign militants belonging to a proxy group called Fitna al‑Khawarij, described as backed by India.

In the Bajaur raid, 11 militants were killed, including their leader, identified as Sajad, alias Abu Zar.

A simultaneous action in Bannu eliminated 12 militants and seized a suspected improvised explosive device (IED) being planted for an attack.

The military’s media wing, Inter‑Services Public Relations (ISPR), also reported other successful missions: 10 militants were killed in an intelligence-based operation in Dera Ismail Khan’s Kalachi area, while five militants died in North Waziristan’s Dattakheel zone.

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Interior Minister Mohsin Nawaz Qureshi lauded the forces for thwarting what the ISPR called the militants’ “desperate and cowardly” attempts to target civilians.