A Dera Ismail Khan IBO on Saturday left six terrorists dead and two soldiers martyred, according to the military’s media wing, Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR). The statement, issued on Sunday, said security forces carried out the intelligence-based operation in the Zarkani area of the district in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP), acting on reports that militants were present there.
What ISPR Reported
According to ISPR, the operation was launched after information about the presence of members of Fitna al Khawarij, the term the state uses for militants belonging to the banned Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP). The military described the six killed militants as “India-sponsored”, a characterisation that comes from the ISPR statement and has not been independently verified.
The military said weapons and ammunition were recovered from the dead men, who it claimed had been actively involved in numerous attacks on security forces and law enforcement agencies, as well as the killing of civilians. It added that a sanitisation operation was under way in the area to eliminate any other militants found there.
The Soldiers Who Died
ISPR identified the two soldiers as Naik Ghulam Murtaza, 36, from Gujrat, and Sepoy Taseer Ahmed, 30, from Talagang, both in Punjab. The statement said they fought gallantly and were martyred in the exchange of fire. The military stressed that the sacrifices reinforced its commitment to safeguarding the country.
Dera Ismail Khan IBO in the Context of the Wider Campaign
The Dera Ismail Khan IBO is the latest in a series of operations in the district. Earlier this month, security forces killed eight militants in another intelligence-based operation in Dera Ismail Khan, state media reported, citing security sources.
ISPR said the counterterrorism campaign, conducted under the vision known as Azm-i-Istehkam, would continue at full pace. The vision was approved by the Federal Apex Committee on the National Action Plan. On Friday, Chief of Defence Forces and Chief of the Army Staff Field Marshal Asim Munir said the armed forces would continue the campaign against what he called India-sponsored militant groups “to the fullest”. He made the remarks during a visit to the Corps Headquarters in Peshawar, where he was briefed on the security situation, ongoing operations, border management and the readiness of troops deployed in the province.
Rising Violence in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa
The operation took place against a backdrop of deteriorating security. Data from the Pakistan Institute for Conflict and Security Studies (PICSS) show that the province, excluding the merged districts, recorded 54 militant attacks in August, compared with 36 in July, an increase of 50 per cent.
A report from the Centre for Research and Security Studies found that Pakistan recorded an 83 per cent rise in violence-linked fatalities in the third quarter of 2026, reversing a decline seen in the first two quarters. Balochistan and KP remained the centres of violence, together accounting for 98 per cent of all deaths in that period.
The federal government has also cited security concerns as part of its justification for imposing an emergency and governor’s rule in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa earlier this month, a move that has been challenged by the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) and is before the Peshawar High Court.
Limits of the Available Information
As is common in reporting on such operations, the figures and descriptions come from the military’s own statement. I found no independent confirmation of the Zarkani operation or of the identities and affiliations of those killed, and journalists’ access to areas of active operations is often limited. Readers should treat the casualty figures and the claims about foreign sponsorship as official accounts.
Outlook
Security officials say the campaign will continue, and further operations in Dera Ismail Khan and neighbouring districts are likely. The coming months will show whether sustained pressure reduces the number of attacks, which rose sharply in the most recent quarterly data. For the families of Naik Murtaza and Sepoy Ahmed, the Dera Ismail Khan IBO is a reminder of the human cost of the fight, which has fallen heavily on soldiers and civilians in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
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