PESHAWAR, Pakistan — In a major counter-terrorism breakthrough, Pakistani security forces neutralized 11 heavily armed militants during a series of intensive intelligence-based operations (IBOs) in the restive North Waziristan district of the northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province.

The operations targeted multiple hideouts linked to cross-border militant networks, dealing a significant blow to foreign-backed networks operating in the region.

Acting on actionable intelligence, military personnel executed targeted raids in the Datta Khel area and surrounding sectors of North Waziristan. Confronted by tactical resistance, security forces engaged the militants in intense exchanges of gunfire, effectively isolating the cells during the fierce firefights. Following the neutralization of the 11 individuals, a large cache of sophisticated weapons, ammunition, and explosive materials was successfully recovered from the compromised hideouts.

The Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), the media wing of the Pakistan Army, confirmed that the neutralized individuals belonged to banned terrorist factions that the state formally terms "Fitna-al-Khawarij" (historically known as the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan or TTP).

Security officials reported that these operatives had been receiving external logistical support and funding to orchestrate high-profile attacks against civilians, infrastructure, and law enforcement personnel along the porous Pakistan-Afghanistan border.

This operation marks another successful push by local law enforcement to stabilize the border corridor. Earlier in the same week, military sources announced that 22 other militants had been cleared from neighboring hideouts in the area.

The military reiterated its firm resolve to carry out thorough sanitization sweeps to permanently eradicate the threat of terrorism and dismantle remaining sleeper cells across the district.