By Mashal Khan

Islamabad — Pakistan has carried out a series of precision strikes against terrorist hideouts of the Khawarij Gul Bahadur Group along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border, killing over 100 militants, including key commanders, the government said on Saturday.

Information Minister Attaullah Tarar said in a post on X that “Pakistan struck verified camps of Khawarij Gul Bahadur in the border areas of North and South Waziristan.” He added that during a 48-hour ceasefire, militants operating from Afghan soil attempted multiple terrorist attacks inside Pakistan, all of which were effectively countered by the security forces.

“During the effective responses by our security forces, more than 100 Khawarij were sent to hell,” Tarar wrote.

The minister said that despite Pakistan’s restraint, the Gul Bahadur group launched a vehicle-borne IED attack in North Waziristan, killing a soldier and several civilians, including women and children. The attack prompted Pakistan to launch “precision strikes” against the group’s camps, reportedly killing between 60 and 70 militants and their leadership based on “confirmed intelligence.”

“All speculations and assertions being made regarding targeting of civilians are false and meant to generate support for terrorist groups operating from inside Afghanistan,” Tarar said, reaffirming that Pakistan “has every right to defend its territorial integrity and protect its people.”

A senior Pakistani security official said the militants killed in the recent operations included “hundreds of foreign terrorists,” and accused them of launching “cowardly suicide attacks on innocent children and women” in retaliation.

According to security sources, on October 17, Fitna al-Khawarij militants attempted a suicide attack on a security post in Mir Ali, North Waziristan, which was foiled by security forces. Three women and two children were killed when the attackers detonated explosives near civilian homes. The Gul Bahadur group later claimed responsibility.

Security sources said Gul Bahadur and his group are “hiding in Afghanistan under the patronage of the Afghan Taliban,” and have recently intensified attacks inside Pakistan following operational losses.

In a separate development, security forces conducted an intelligence-based operation in the Mughal Kot sector of Bannu, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, killing two terrorists linked to the Tariq Kachhi group of Fitna-ul-Khawarij.

During the operation, Commander Tariq Kachhi and his associate Hakimullah alias Tiger were killed. Heavy weapons were recovered from the site.

Security officials said the Kachhi group had been active for the past two years, involved in cross-border infiltration, extortion, and facilitating terrorist movements from Afghanistan into Pakistan.

The security establishment reaffirmed that Pakistan’s counterterrorism campaign will continue “until the last terrorist is eliminated” and reiterated that the country “will not allow terrorists operating from inside Afghanistan to live in peace.”