By Kavita Mistry 
Security forces killed 23 Taliban militants in two separate engagements in northwest Pakistan, bordering Afghanistan, the Army said on Thursday (November 20, 2025).
The troops gunned down 12 militants belonging to the banned Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) during the conduct of the operation in Kurram district in the restive Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, the Army said in a statement.
The operations conducted on the reported presence of militants in the Kurram district were an expansion of operations started on Wednesday (November 19, 2025).
Based on the intel, another operation was conducted in the same area, neutralising 11 other TTP militants.
“Capitalising on intelligence with respect to the presence of another group of Khwarij in the same general area in another intelligence-based operation, the troops successfully neutralised eleven more Khwarij,” the statement added.
The Pakistan government last year notified the banned TTP as “Fitna al-Khawarij,” a reference to a group in earlier Islamic history which was involved in violence.
In a separate incident, a man and his four-year-old son were killed when a mortar shell landed near their house in Tirah Valley, bordering Afghanistan, on Wednesday, police said on Thursday (November 20, 2025).
Meanwhile, in South Waziristan, security forces recovered 16 improvised explosive devices (IEDs) during an intelligence-based operation (IBO) in the Birmal tehsil on Wednesday (November 20, 2025).
Officials said the explosives were likely intended for attacks against civilians.
In Lakki Marwat, TTP commander Wali, alias Woloo Kakakhel, was captured alive by unidentified men on Thursday (November 20, 2025).