Pakistan’s security forces killed 52 terrorists, mostly belonging to the Taliban, in separate operations across three provinces in the last 24 hours, the army and officials said Friday.
Six terrorists were killed in Punjab province early Friday, while on Thursday, 41 were killed in two separate intelligence-based operations (IBOs) in Balochistan, and five Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) men, including a commander, were killed in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province.
The Counter Terrorism Department (CTD) of Punjab police said the terrorists had planned attacks on the police and other law enforcement agencies in the province’s Mianwali district, some 300 km from Lahore.
“Acting on credible intelligence about the presence of highly dangerous terrorists in the Chhapri Dam area, Mianwali, CTD teams carried out a targetted operation,” said a statement by the CTD.
“When law enforcement personnel moved in, the terrorists opened fire. The CTD officials returned fire, resulting in a gun battle in which six terrorists were killed while eight others managed to escape,” it said.
In Balochistan, the first IBO was conducted in the outskirts of Harnai district on the reported presence of the terrorists.
The security forces engaged the hideout, and “after an intense fire exchange,” 30 terrorists were killed, the army said, adding that a large cache of ammunition and explosives were also recovered from them and destroyed on the spot.
Another IBO was conducted in Panjgur district in which a terrorist hideout was busted and 11 terrorists were neutralised, it said.
Besides weapons and ammunition, looted money from a bank robbery in Panjgur on December 15, 2025, was also recovered from the killed terrorists.
In Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, the security forces and the police killed five TTP terrorists, including a TTP commander, in Domel tehsil of Bannu district in a joint operation that lasted around 10 hours on Thursday.
Three civilians were also killed and several others were injured during the operation, police said.
The security forces targeted the terrorists’ hideouts with more than 25 quadcopter strikes, while a heavy exchange of fire continued throughout the clashes.
Following the operation, continuous surveillance by drones and helicopters was carried out in the region to round up the remaining terrorists trying to flee the area.
In Punjab, the CTD said it recovered a large cache of weapons and explosives from the militants, including one suicide jacket, six submachine guns (SMGs), three hand grenades, and around 200 rounds of ammunition during the operation.
Mianwali is always vulnerable to such attacks as the area is easily infiltrated through the adjoining tribal belt, sources said, adding, the terrorists mostly belonged to the banned TTP.