ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s security forces foiled a major militant attack in the country’s northwestern region, the military’s media wing said on Saturday, destroying a vehicle-borne suicide bomb and killing three militants it described as Indian-sponsored extremists.
Pakistan has witnessed a sharp increase in militant violence in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, which borders Afghanistan, with its forces fighting groups like the proscribed Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), an umbrella network of various armed factions that the government calls Khwarij.
The term is rooted in early Islamic history and is used to describe an extremist sect that rebelled against legitimate authority and declared other Muslims apostates.
“On 24 October 2025, security forces foiled a major terrorist incident and averted a potential catastrophic attack,” the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) said in a statement. “Based on credible intelligence on reported presence of Khwarij belonging to Indian proxy, Fitna Al-Khwarij, preparing a vehicle-borne suicide bomber for a major terrorist activity, security forces conducted an intelligence-based operation in the general area of Jhallar, North Waziristan District.”
“During the conduct of the operation, our troops effectively engaged the Khwarij’s location and, through precise and skillful engagement, destroyed the vehicle being prepared for the suicide attack and also eliminated three Indian-sponsored Khwarij.”
While Pakistan says cross-border attacks by the TTP and other militant groups from Afghanistan are backed by India, New Delhi denies the allegation.
The ISPR statement said a “sanitization operation” was continuing in the area, adding that Pakistan’s counterterrorism campaign under the government’s Azm-e-Istehkam initiative would continue at full pace until militant violence is wiped out from the country.
