Security forces have killed 74 terrorists in intelligence-based operations in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan, the military’s media wing said on Friday. The Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) said 43 were killed in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa over the past 48 hours and 31 in Balochistan in an operation under way since 3 November.

In Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, troops killed 35 terrorists in Mir Ali, North Waziristan district, and eight in Orakzai district after intense exchanges of fire, the ISPR said, adding that weapons and explosives were recovered. The operations targeted locations linked to Fitna al-Khawarij, which the military describes as an India-backed group. In Balochistan, security forces have been conducting a comprehensive intelligence-based area sanitisation operation since 3 November in the Kurram area of Quetta district against Fitna al-Khawarij and Fitna al-Hindustan militants, killing 31 after several engagements.

The ISPR said the operations are part of the ongoing counterterrorism campaign against foreign-sponsored terrorism, conducted under Azm-e-Istehkam, the national counterterrorism initiative approved by the Federal Apex Committee on the National Action Plan. Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan remain the country’s main centres of militant violence: according to the Centre for Research and Security Studies, the two provinces together accounted for nearly 96 per cent of all violence-related fatalities recorded in the second quarter of 2026.

Sources: Dawn, ’74 terrorists killed in targeted actions: ISPR’, 14 November 2026 — https://www.dawn.com/news/print/2044260 ; Dawn, ‘Security forces kill 74 terrorists during IBOs in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Balochistan: ISPR’, 13 November 2026 — https://www.dawn.com/news/2044387 ; The Express Tribune, ‘Security forces kill 74 terrorists in K-P, Balochistan operations: ISPR’, 13 November 2026 — https://tribune.com.pk/story/2640081/security-forces-kill-31-terrorists-in-balochistan-operations-ispr ; Business Recorder, ‘Security forces kill 74 terrorists in Balochistan, KP operations: ISPR’, 13 November 2026 — https://www.brecorder.com/news/40448742 ; Geo News, ‘Security forces neutralise 74 India-backed terrorists in KP, Balochistan IBOs: ISPR’, 13 November 2026 — https://www.geo.tv/latest/690881-security-forces-neutralise-74-india-backed-terrorists-in-kp-balochistan-ibos-ispr

Photo: Gilbert Dréan, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons