Trending
Police killed a wanted commander of the banned Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) during an operation in Khyber district. Separately, officers foiled an attack on a police station in Dera Ismail Khan after an exchange of fire, police officials said on Thursday.
The developments came a day after 10 police personnel, including a deputy superintendent of police (DSP) and a sub-inspector, were killed in a terrorist attack on a police team in Kohat.
Eighteen suspected terrorists were also killed during the exchange of fire after the police team came under attack. The officers were returning from an operation against illegal gold mining in the Gambat area.
Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Inspector General of Police Zulfiqar Hameed said police killed a highly wanted TTP commander identified as Saifullah.
The operation took place in the Bara Sheikhhan area of Khyber district.
According to a K-P police statement, Saifullah was affiliated with Fitna Al-Khawarij. Police and the Counter-Terrorism Department (CTD) wanted him in several serious cases.
The statement said authorities had declared him a proclaimed offender. He had reportedly been living in Afghanistan for the past three years to evade arrest.
CTD records linked the slain commander to attacks on security checkpoints in the Maidanak area. They also identified his alleged involvement in improvised explosive device (IED) attacks at Ali Masjid in Jamrud.
PM Shehbaz Calls for Grant-Based Climate Financing, Warns Against Weaponising Water at COP31
Police said Saifullah had recently returned from Afghanistan as the commander of a terrorist formation. He was allegedly planning further attacks in Pakistan.
He was killed during an exchange of fire with police, according to the statement.
Two police personnel sustained minor injuries when suspected terrorists launched a grenade attack during the operation. The injured officers received first aid.
IGP Hameed praised the police team for killing the wanted commander.
“The police personnel who killed the Khawarij commander in a successful operation and saved hundreds of innocent lives are an asset to the nation,” he said.
He added that operations would continue until the country was cleared of the last terrorist.
Meanwhile, police foiled an attack on Band Korai police station in Dera Ismail Khan late Wednesday night.
According to a police spokesperson, armed attackers rammed an explosives-laden pickup truck into the station’s main gate.
The resulting explosion damaged the police station’s wall and a nearby mosque. The attackers also used heavy weapons during the assault.
Police personnel responded immediately and forced the attackers to retreat. Officers prevented them from entering the station despite the explosion and heavy gunfire.
The spokesperson credited the officers’ alertness, security arrangements and timely response for foiling the attack.
No casualties were reported. All personnel deployed at the police station remained safe.
The Dera Ismail Khan District Police Officer (DPO) reached the site shortly after receiving information about the incident. He reviewed the security arrangements and assessed the situation.
Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa has witnessed several attacks targeting police personnel in recent months.
On October 8, Station House Officer Daud Khan and his gunman, Farhad, were killed when armed men attacked a police patrol near the Karak-Kohat boundary.
Earlier, on September 28, unidentified gunmen attacked a traffic police vehicle in Tank district. Three traffic police personnel were killed.
On September 25, Counter-Terrorism Department Constable Muhammad Afaq was killed during an intelligence-based operation in Peshawar’s Garhi Sherdad area. Three other personnel were injured in the operation against suspected suicide attackers.
One of the deadliest recent incidents occurred on September 18. A blast followed by an assault at Kohat Police Lines killed 15 police personnel among 23 people. Security forces later killed eight attackers during a clearance operation.
Terrorism remains a growing security challenge for Pakistan, with attacks increasing every year since 2022, according to the Armed Conflict Location & Event Data (ACLED) organisation.
ACLED data showed that attacks in Pakistan rose nearly fourfold, from 658 in 2022 to 2,425 in 2025.
The threat also continued into 2026. Two security reports presented to the federal cabinet in October showed a 195% increase in terrorist incidents in K-P between March 2024 and September 2026.
The reports further stated that police and security personnel were targets in 73% of attacks recorded in the province during 2026.
They also identified drones and improvised explosive devices as growing threats.
[…] TTP Commander Killed in Khyber Operation as Police Foil Dera Ismail Khan Attack […]