Last Updated on November 14, 2026 by YeJahan
YEJAHAN DESK
RAWALPINDI ( Nov 14): Four Pakistani soldiers, including an army major, were killed and 24 militants died during a series of intelligence-based operations across Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s North Waziristan district, the military’s media wing said on Saturday.
According to Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), security forces have been conducting clearance and patrolling operations since Nov. 13 around Kolpur, Kardagap and Nushki in Balochistan, including securing the Quetta-Taftan National Highway (N-40) for local traffic.
During an overnight raid in Kolpur between Nov. 13 and 14, troops killed eight militants, including a suicide bomber, and seized a large cache of weapons and ammunition. The military identified the fighters as belonging to Fitna al-Hindustan, an official designation used by Islamabad for Balochistan-based militant groups allegedly backed by India.
On Saturday, militants attacked a military patrol in the area using armed quadcopters. The drone strike killed Major Omer Minhas Nasir of Chakwal district and Havildar Muhammad Adnan Khan of Kotli Sattian.
ISPR accused hostile intelligence agencies of supplying militant groups with financing, improvised explosive devices and drone technology to disrupt peace and target both civilians and security personnel. The military said clearance operations under the government’s Azm-i-Istehkam counterterrorism campaign would continue until the threat is eliminated.
In a separate statement issued earlier on Saturday, the military said 16 militants and two soldiers were killed during fierce gun battles over a 12-hour period in North Waziristan.
Troops engaged militant hideouts in the Mir Ali, Datta Khel and Ali Khel areas. Twelve fighters, including two Afghan nationals, were killed in Ali Khel, while two each died in Mir Ali and Datta Khel. The military stated the militants belonged to Fitna al-Khawarij, the state’s designation for the banned Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP).
Havildar Asmat Ali, 43, and Naik Aftab Ali, 32, were killed during the clashes. Weapons and ammunition were recovered from the sites, and sanitization operations remain underway.
President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif paid tribute to the slain troops in separate statements, pledging to press ahead with operations against foreign-backed militancy. Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar condemned the quadcopter strike on the military convoy in Mastung’s Kardagap area, while Balochistan Chief Minister Sarfraz Bugti called the Kolpur operation a “significant step forward.”
Saturday’s clashes follow a major military sweep reported on Friday, in which ISPR said 74 militants were killed across both provinces, 43 during 48-hour operations in North Waziristan and Orakzai, and 31 in a Balochistan operation launched on Nov. 3. Earlier this month, on Nov 1, another 17 militants and one soldier were killed in Balochistan’s Kachhi and Kharan districts.
Pakistan has faced a sharp rise in militant violence, particularly in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan, since the TTP ended a fragile ceasefire with the government in November 2022. Data from the Pakistan Institute for Conflict and Security Studies (PICSS) indicates continued volatility: between Oct. 30 and Nov. 5, 2026, militant attacks in the former tribal districts jumped from eight to 20 compared to the prior week. In Balochistan, weekly attacks dipped from 15 to 11 over the same period, though fatalities rose from five to seven.
Copyright YeJahan News Network, 2026
