JAMMU: At least 12 soldiers, two policemen and a forest department official were killed in an attack on a joint check post in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Tank district on July 24. The attack was carried out by the banned Tehreek Taliban Pakistan (TTP), the Pakistan Army’s media wing, Inter Services Public Relations (ISPR) has said.
ISPR said in a statement that the attack took place early on Friday and was carried out by Fitna-al-Khawarij (FAK), a term used to designate members of the banned Tehreek Taliban Pakistan (TTP), an organisation towards which the Pakistani government turned a blind eye for a long time. The reason was these fighters were involved in attacks on the soldiers of western nations, including US, in Afghanistan.
Elaborating on the incident, the military’s media wing said the attackers attempted to breach the checkpost’s perimeter, but their attempts were “swiftly and decisively foiled by the vigilant and resolute response of security forces.” The security personnel deployed at the checkpost displayed “unwavering courage and professional excellence” and engaged and eliminated 15 terrorists, the ISPR added.
The statement said that the attackers then rammed an explosive-laden vehicle into the perimeter wall. “Due to [the] blast impact, infrastructure at [the] checkpost was seriously damaged; resultantly, 15 brave sons of [the] soil, including 12 military, two policemen and a government official ex forest department, rendered the ultimate sacrifice and embraced shahadat (martyrdom),” the statement read.
ISPR added that a sanitisation operation was ongoing to track down any other TTP men in the area, vowing that under the “relentless counter-terrorism campaign under vision ‘Azm-i-Istehkam’ (as approved by Federal Apex Committee on National Action Plan) by security forces and law enforcement agencies of Pakistan will continue at full pace to wipe out the menace of foreign-sponsored and supported terrorism from the country”, according to a report of Dawn newspaper.
“These sacrifices of our brave soldiers further reinforce our unwavering commitment to safeguarding our nation at all costs,” ISPR said. Last week, security forces killed 24 TTP rebels in KP’s Bannu district and its adjoining areas in the last 24 hours, the military’s media affairs wing claimed in the statement.
The statement by ISPR said that there had been a recent “surge” in violent activities against police and suicide bombings in Bannu. “Security forces have initiated extensive joint intelligence-based operations to hunt the perpetrators of these heinous attacks and their support infrastructure.
“Accordingly, in the last 24 hours, following fierce fire exchanges in Bannu district and adjoining areas, 24 khawarij belonging to foreign proxy Fitna-al-khawarij have been sent to hell,” the statement said.
In May, at least 15 police personnel were killed after a suicide attack on the Fateh Khel police post in KP’s Bannu district. The TTP men had then also launched their attack on the post by ramming a vehicle laden with explosives.
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, ruled by jailed former Prime Minister Imran Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek Insaaf (PTI) party has seen a rise in such attacks over the past year. There are sharp differences between the Federal government and the provincial government as to how TTP men are to be dealt with.
According to an annual security report pertaining to the year 2025, from the Centre for Research and Security Studies (CRSS), the province recorded a significant surge in violence last year as “fatalities rose from 1,620 in 2024 to 2,331 in 2025”.
Due to a resurgence of militancy, especially in KP and Balochistan, where attacks often target security personnel, the police and other armed forces, the state has intensified operations to counter such violence.
