Pakistan says 21 more militants killed in North Waziristan

A mostly empty street lined with low shops in Digan, North Waziristan, with a few people walking in the distance. — CONTEXT IMAGE A street scene in Digan, North Waziristan, photographed in 2013. It is a contextual view of the district and does not depict the June 2026 operations. Photo: Rizwan Ullah Wazir, via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 3.0.

What happened

Pakistan’s security forces killed 21 militants in intelligence-based operations in the Miranshah area and surrounding localities of North Waziristan district over the preceding 72 hours, the military’s media affairs wing said on Saturday, 13 June 2026.

The Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) said forces had engaged multiple militant locations in the general area of Miranshah, in continuation of a series of intelligence-based operations in the district. Following fierce exchanges of fire, it said, 21 more “khwarij” belonging to “India-sponsored Fitna-al-Khawarij” were killed, including four ring leaders identified as Khalid Raza alias Salar, Muftoon, Musa and Imran alias Ayan. The state uses “Fitna al-Khawarij” to refer to the banned Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP).

The ISPR said the killed ring leaders were highly wanted for their involvement in numerous terrorist activities, including the killing of security forces personnel and civilians, and that the operation had caused a significant blow to the network operating in the area. Weapons and ammunition were recovered, it said, adding that sanitisation operations would continue to eliminate remaining fighters. The statement said the total number of militants killed in the ongoing operations had risen to 48, after 27 were killed over 72 hours in an earlier phase last week.

President Asif Ali Zardari, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi paid tribute to the security forces in separate statements. The president said the nation stood shoulder to shoulder with its forces, calling the elimination of the ring leaders a significant success. The prime minister said the forces were achieving major successes under the Azm-i-Istehkam campaign and that the fight against terrorism would continue until it was completely eradicated.

Separately, the Counter Terrorism Department in Sindh said on the same day that it had arrested a suspect, identified as Tahir, allegedly involved in procuring advanced drones, electronic components and explosive-making materials for the TTP. It said he had bought drone motors, frames, propellers, batteries and controller boards from markets in Karachi and online platforms, and that two kilograms of explosive material, a drone, a battery and a remote control were recovered from him. It linked him to his brother Talal alias Zaid Baloch, whom it described as a TTP member based in Afghanistan.

Why it matters

The operations are part of an intensified counter-terrorism campaign in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan, where militant violence has surged in recent months. On 2 June, the district administration imposed Section 144 for an indefinite period in the Miranshah subdivision, restricting movement and traffic amid security concerns, a measure widely read as a sign of intensified operations. The Pakistan Institute for Conflict and Security Studies has said the security situation deteriorated sharply in May 2026 after two months of improvement, driven largely by violence in the two provinces. The CTD arrest points to the growing role of drones and improvised devices in the conflict.

What is still uncertain

The identities of those killed beyond the four named ring leaders were not released, and the government’s characterisation of the group as “India-sponsored” is an official assertion not confirmed by an independent source. The ISPR did not say whether security personnel were killed or wounded in the exchanges. No group publicly claimed the slain fighters, and independent verification in the area is difficult because access is restricted under Section 144.

Sources & reporting notes

This is a summary of published reporting, not independent reporting. Details are as carried by the cited sources, which were reviewed on 2026-06-13. The casualty figures are the military's own account.