Pakistan Army Kills 54 Militants Trying to Cross Border from Afghanistan

Pakistan’s military announced on Sunday that it had eliminated 54 militants attempting to infiltrate the country from Afghanistan, in one of the largest anti-terror operations in recent months.

According to an official statement from the army, security forces detected the movement of a “large group” of militants between Friday and Sunday along the northwestern border in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province.

“The group of jihadists was specifically infiltrating on behest of their foreign masters to undertake high-profile terrorist activities inside Pakistan,” the military said.

The army emphasized that the infiltration attempt comes at a time when India has been leveling accusations against Pakistan regarding cross-border terrorism, suggesting coordination behind the recent spike in militant activities.

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The army reported that soldiers engaged the militants from three sides, killing 54 and recovering a substantial cache of weapons, ammunition, and explosives.

“This is the biggest number of infiltrators neutralized in a single ongoing operation to date,” Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi said during a press conference in Lahore on Sunday.

The confrontation comes just a day after 15 militants were killed in three separate clashes within Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, incidents that also resulted in the deaths of two Pakistani soldiers.

Pakistan has been grappling with a significant rise in militant violence since the Taliban’s return to power in neighboring Afghanistan in 2021. Islamabad has repeatedly accused the Taliban administration of harboring terrorists who launch attacks on Pakistani soil — a claim Kabul consistently denies.

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Meanwhile, regional tensions have further escalated following a deadly attack on April 22, when gunmen killed 26 civilians in the contested Kashmir region. India has accused Pakistan of backing the assailants, an allegation Islamabad firmly rejects.

According to data from the Centre for Research and Security Studies (CRSS) in Islamabad, more than 200 people — mostly security personnel — have been killed so far this year in militant attacks in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan provinces.

2023 was already recorded as the deadliest year in nearly a decade for Pakistan, with most attacks concentrated near the western border.

Pakistan’s army has vowed to continue its crackdown on militants operating from Afghan territory. “Our resolve to eliminate the menace of terrorism remains unwavering,” the military statement said.

With security threats mounting and regional geopolitics intensifying, Pakistan faces a challenging path forward in safeguarding its borders and maintaining internal stability.