What happened
Security forces killed at least 22 militants in an operation in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s North Waziristan district, the military’s media wing said on Tuesday, 19 May 2026, as Pakistan’s counter-terrorism campaign under Operation Azm-i-Istehkam continued along the border regions, Pakistan Today reported.
In a statement, the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) said a sanitisation operation had been under way since 17 May in the Shewa general area of North Waziristan after “credible intelligence reports regarding the presence of khwarij in the area”. The military said troops “effectively engaged the terrorists’ hideout” and that, after a fierce exchange of fire over the past 24 hours, “22 khwarij belonging to Indian-sponsored Fitna al-Khawarij have been sent to hell”.
The state uses the term “Fitna al-Khawarij” for terrorists affiliated with the banned Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP). According to the ISPR, a cache of weapons and ammunition was recovered from the slain militants, who it said had been involved in numerous terrorist activities in the region.
Why it matters
The military said evidence gathered during the operation showed that the militants had coerced and intimidated local residents, forcing them to provide safe passage and using civilians as human shields. “Such deplorable acts are highly condemnable and no justification can rationalise the endangerment of public lives,” the statement said.
The ISPR added that the sanitisation operation was continuing to eliminate any remaining militants hiding in the area and that security forces had cordoned off the locality. It said the counter-terrorism campaign under Operation Azm-i-Istehkam, as approved by the Federal Apex Committee on the National Action Plan, would continue at full pace to “wipe out the menace of foreign-sponsored and supported terrorism from the country”.
Context
Pakistan has seen a sharp resurgence in militant violence, particularly in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan, since the Afghan Taliban returned to power in Kabul in 2021. Islamabad has repeatedly urged the Taliban-led administration to dismantle militant sanctuaries on Afghan soil, especially those linked to the banned TTP, but Pakistani officials say those concerns have largely gone unaddressed.
The operation followed other security actions this month. A major-ranked army officer was among five soldiers killed during a sanitisation operation in Balochistan’s Barkhan district, and a follow-up operation led to the arrest of at least three commanders of Balochistan-based militant groups, with 35 of their operatives killed, according to the Balochistan government. Earlier in May, security forces killed five militants in two separate engagements in Tank and Dera Ismail Khan, while eight militants were killed along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border in North Waziristan in early April.
What remains uncertain
The military did not identify the individual militants killed, and the ISPR statement could not be independently verified. It was not clear how many militants remained in the area or whether civilian casualties had occurred.
