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Pakistan: North Waziristan Womb Of Terror – Analysis

June 10, 2025June 10, 2025 SATP 0 Comments

By Tushar Ranjan Mohanty

On June 3, 2025, at least 14 terrorists were killed in an operation by Security Forces (SFs) in the Datta Khel area of North Waziristan District in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP). An Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) statement said that an intelligence-based operation was conducted by SFs in the general Datta Khel area, on the reported presence of terrorists. During the operation, the troops effectively engaged the terrorists’ location and after an intense exchange of fire, 14 terrorists were killed.

On May 29, 2025, at least six terrorists and four soldiers were killed during a clash, when the terrorists attempted to attack an SF check post in the Shawal area of North Waziristan District in KP. According to a statement issued by the ISPR, the deceased soldiers were identified as Lieutenant Daniyal Ismail (24 years old, a resident of Mardan District), Naib Subedar Kashif Raza (42 years old, a resident of Chakwal District), Lance Naik Fiaqat (35 years old, a resident of Haripur District) and 26-year-old Sepoy Muhammad Hameed from Abbottabad District.

On May 19, 2025, two soldiers and two terrorists were killed, when terrorists ambushed an SF convoy in the Mir Ali area of North Waziristan District in KP. The deceased soldiers were identified as Sepoy Farhad Ali Turi (29) and Lance Naik Sabir Afridi (32).

On May 19, 2025, a quadcopter strike in the Hormuz village of Mir Ali tehsil (revenue unit) in North Waziristan District, KP, claimed the lives of at least four children. The quadcopter attack targeted a residential dhouse. Local officials attributed the casualties to intense clashes between the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and SFs in the area.

According to partial data compiled by the South Asia Terrorism Portal (SATP), North Waziristan has accounted for a total of 289 fatalities (seven civilians, 41 SF personnel and 241 terrorists) in terrorism-related violence in 2025, thus far (data till June 8, 2025). During the corresponding period of 2024, there were 123 such fatalities, including 29 civilians, 23 SF personnel and 71 terrorists. Just the first five months of the current year have already crossed the total fatalities for the whole of 2024, which recorded 271 fatalities, including 52 civilians, 50 SF personnel and 169 terrorists.

Over the past six years, North Waziristan has been the most violent among all the Districts of KP. In 2024 North Waziristan recorded 271 fatalities, 151 in 2023, 177 in 2022, 106 in 2021 and 110 in 2020. A 135 per cent surge in terrorism related violence in the first five months and seven days of 2025, in comparison to the corresponding period of the previous year is a matter of grave concern, particularly in view of the region’s violent past.

North Waziristan District falls under the Afghanistan-Pakistan border region, once described as the “most dangerous place in the world”. It was one among the seven Agencies of the erstwhile Federally Administered Tribal Areas [FATA]. On May 31, 2018, FATA was merged with the KP Province and North Waziristan’s status was changed from Agency to District, as was the case with the other six erstwhile Agencies as well. North Waziristan shares borders with the Bannu, Tank, Dera Ismail Khan and Kurram Districts of KP in the North and Northeast; Sherani and Musakhel Districts of Balochistan to the South; and Khost, Paktia, and Paktika Provinces of Afghanistan to the West and North-West. Its strategically central and vulnerable location gives it tremendous importance for the terrorists.

Since March 6, 2000, when SATP commenced compiling data on conflicts in Pakistan, and till May 30, 2018, when it was an Agency in FATA, North Waziristan recorded a total of 7,128 fatalities [827 civilians, 686 SF personnel, 5,365 terrorists and 250 not-specified (NS)]. Since May 31, 2018, North Waziristan has recorded another 1,202 fatalities (data till June 8, 2025), including 135 civilians, 327 SF personnel, and 740 terrorists.

Terrorism in the region was at its peak in 2014, when the District accounted for 1,673 fatalities, including 23 civilians, 70 SF personnel, and 1,580 terrorists. Things changed with the launch of operation Zarb-e-Azb (Sword of the Prophet) in North Waziristan, on June 15, 2014, in the aftermath of the attack on the Jinnah International Airport, Karachi, on June 8-9, 2014. At least 33 persons, including all 10 attackers, were killed in the Karachi Airport attack.

Zarb-e-Azb officially ended on April 18, 2016. On June 15, 2016, the then Director General (DG) of ISPR, Lieutenant-General Asim Saleem Bajwa, disclosed,

Before Zarb-e-Azb, the country, including North Waziristan, was plagued with terrorism. 490 soldiers of the Pakistan Army have died in the line of duty during Operation Zarb-e-Azb. Over a period of two years, an area of 3,600 square kilometres in North Waziristan has been cleared of terrorists. A total of 3,500 terrorists, including 900 Lashkar-e-Islam (LI) were killed, leaving 992 hideouts destroyed. Army successfully seized 253 tons of explosives – enough to make IEDs from for at least 15 years (sic).

After, the end of Zarb-e-Azb, the Pakistan military launched Operation Radd-ul-Fasaad (Elimination of Discord) on February 22, 2017, across the country, which was ended on July 22, 2024. Though no exact number of casualties during the Operation Radd-ul-Fasaad was disclosed, North Waziristan recorded 449 terrorism related fatalities, including 48 civilians, 176 SF personnel, and 225 terrorists, during this period.

Though it had been the epicentre of all terrorist activities, Pakistan had long delayed operations in North Waziristan, as the region also provided shelter to its own Afghan Taliban proxy, the Haqqani Network. The Haqqani Network had long been accused by the United States of attacking allied forces in Afghanistan. Significantly, there are no reports to suggest that the Pakistan Army had killed even a single terrorist drawn from the Haqqani Network. According to unnamed tribal sources the Haqqani Network abruptly left the area, even as Operation Zarb-e-Azb commenced on June 15, 2014, allegedly tipped off by the military. Many Haqqani members shifted across the border to Afghanistan.

However, with the Afghan Taliban’s return to power in Afghanistan on August 15, 2021, with the help of their strong ally, the Haqqani Network, the security situation has worsened in North Waziristan. According to partial data compiled by SATP, 925 persons (105 civilians, 209 SF personnel and 611 terrorists) have been killed in 267 terrorism-related incidents in Pakistan in the 1,391 days between August 16, 2021, and June 6, 2025. In the preceding 1,391 days (between August 14, 2021, and October 24, 2017) there were 299 fatalities (37 civilians, 123 SF personnel and 139 terrorists) in 92 terrorism related incidents.

On April 28, 2022, KP Inspector General of Police (IGP) Moazzam Jan Ansari observed that terrorists were infiltrating from Afghanistan into the tribal Districts, to carry out attacks. He added that such incidents had taken place in Bajaur, as well as the North and South Waziristan Districts. IGP Ansari noted that, on the Pakistani side, kinetic action was being taken against terrorists; however, the issues emanating from across the border needed to be taken up with Afghan authorities as, “We are facing problems from other side of the border.”

Recently, on April 27, 2025, SFs killed 71 terrorists attempting to infiltrate through the Pakistan-Afghanistan border near the Bibak Ghar area in the Hassan Khel tehsil (revenue unit) of North Waziristan District. According to ISPR, this was the highest-ever number of terrorists killed by SFs in a single engagement throughout the campaign against terrorism.

Earlier, on April 6, 2025, at least eight terrorists were killed as SFs thwarted their bid to infiltrate through the Pakistan-Afghanistan border in the Hassan Khel area of North Waziristan District. “Own troops effectively engaged and thwarted their attempt to infiltrate. After an intense exchange of fire, eight khwarij [apostates/terrorists] were sent to hell, while four khwarij got injured,” ISPR disclosed.

On March 23, 2025, SFs killed 16 terrorists who were attempting to cross into Pakistan from Afghanistan, in the Ghulam Khan Kallay area of North Waziristan District. According to ISPR, SFs detected a group of terrorists attempting to enter the country through the Pak-Afghan border in the Ghulam Khan Kallay area, and killed 16 of them during an exchange of fire.

According to a KP Counter Terrorism Department (CTD) report of May 17, 2025, the province had recorded 284 terrorist attacks in 2025, out of which North Waziristan District was the hardest hit, accounting for 53 incidents. The CTD report disclosed that 1,116 individuals had been named as suspects in terrorism cases across the province, with North Waziristan accounting for the highest number, at 391.

As a flashpoint of cross border terrorism, North Waziristan is a highly militarized zone in KP, and residents generally avoid going outside after dusk because of the fear of both militants and military personnel. SFs often impose two-day curfews every week to secure military movements. Non-locals cannot enter Waziristan without prior approval from the administration and must declare the purpose of their visit, while being vouched for by a local resident.

On May 26, a high-level delegation from the KP Government, led by Advisor to the Chief Minister on Information and Public Relations, Barrister Muhammad Ali Saif, visited Miran Shah in North Waziristan to assess the security situation and review development efforts in the region. The visit was undertaken on the special directives of Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur and included key officials, such as Provincial Minister Pakhtun Yar, Chief Secretary Shahab Ali Shah, and Inspector General of Police Zulfiqar Hameed. During the visit, civil and military officials provided a detailed briefing on the prevailing security environment in North Waziristan.

Further, on June 3, the military imposed a strict curfew across North Waziristan, severely limiting civilian movement in the restive region near the Afghan border. The restrictions include a blanket ban on travel within and between towns, with even medical emergencies reportedly being denied clearance to pass through military checkpoints. Multiple roadblocks and military inspections have paralyzed daily life in the District. “The military is not allowing anyone to move, not even those with critical medical needs,” said one resident, who asked not to be named due to fear of reprisals, “Hospitals are inaccessible, markets are closed, and people are trapped inside their homes.”

Even as the common citizenry suffers, terrorist violence persists, with substantial movement of terrorists across the Pak-Afghan border, allegedly with the support of Taliban forces deployed in the border areas. While the Pakistan Army has recorded a relentless string of ‘successes’ against the terrorists, there is little reason to believe that violence will end anytime soon.