ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan army said on Monday one soldier had died while security forces killed eight Pakistani Taliban militants in multiple engagements in the northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) province.
Three militants were killed in an encounter in the North Waziristan district that borders Afghanistan, according to the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), the Pakistani military’s media wing.
Two militants and a Pakistani troop were killed in an intelligence-based operation in the neighboring South Waziristan district. Security forces gunned down another three militants in two engagements in Khyber and Bannu districts.
“Weapons, ammunition and explosives were also recovered from the killed khwarij, who remained actively involved in numerous terrorist activities,” the ISPR said in a statement. “Sanitization operations are being conducted to eliminate any other Kharji [Pakistani Taliban militant] found in the area.”
Pakistan has struggled to contain a surging militancy in KP in recent years, where the Pakistani Taliban, or the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), have mounted their attacks against security forces and police since their fragile, months-long truce with Islamabad broke down in late 2022. Islamabad has frequently accused Afghanistan of supporting the Pakistani Taliban and other militant groups, an allegation denied by Kabul.
The latest operations follow the killing of five TTP militants and the arrest of two others in KP, while the military said late last month it had killed 71 militants while infiltrating Pakistan’s border with Afghanistan in North Waziristan.
The number was usually high in Pakistan’s battle against militancy and instability along its border with Afghanistan during the nearly four years since the United States withdrew its military support from the country and the Taliban took over Kabul.
The South Asian country is also facing an intensifying insurgency by armed separatist groups in its southwestern Balochistan province.
Army says one soldier, eight militants killed in multiple engagements in Pakistan’s northwest
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Army says one soldier, eight militants killed in multiple engagements in Pakistan’s northwest
- The encounters took place in North and South Waziristan, Khyber and Bannu districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province
- Pakistan has seen a surge in militancy in KP since its fragile truce with the Pakistani Taliban broke down in late 2022
Pakistan reports first wild polio case of 2026 despite vaccination campaigns
- Four-year-old girl infected in Sindh’s Sujawal district as virus persists in high-risk areas
- Pakistan conducted last nationwide campaign in January, vaccinating over 45 million children
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan reported its first wild poliovirus case of the year, health authorities said on Thursday, underscoring the persistence of the disease in high-risk areas despite ongoing vaccination campaigns.
The latest infection was confirmed in a four-year-old girl in Sujawal district of the southern Sindh province, according to the Regional Reference Laboratory for Polio Eradication at the National Institute of Health in Islamabad.
Polio is a highly contagious viral disease that can cause permanent paralysis, mainly in children under the age of five. Pakistan and neighboring Afghanistan are the only two countries in the world where the disease remains endemic.
“The case was reported through the polio surveillance network and confirmed by the Regional Reference Laboratory for Polio Eradication at the National Institute of Health, Islamabad,” the statement said.
“The Polio Eradication Initiative is already analyzing the best response to tackle and prevent further transmission.”
In 2026, Pakistan conducted a nationwide polio campaign in January that vaccinated more than 45 million children, while the next national campaign is planned for April.
Since 1994, Pakistan has cut polio cases by 99.8 percent through vaccination efforts, reducing infections from an estimated 20,000 in the early 1990s to 31 in 2025.
Pakistan reported 31 polio cases in 2025. Southern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa accounted for more than half of the country’s polio cases in 2025, with 17 of the 31 infections reported from the region.
According to health authorities, 74 cases were reported in 2024.
More than 200 polio workers and police officers assigned to protect polio teams have been killed in Pakistan since the 1990s, according to health and security officials.
Militants often falsely claim the vaccination campaigns are part of a Western plot to sterilize Muslim children.
The vaccination campaigns are also undermined by parental refusals in remote regions.
