Security forces stopped a Kurram infiltration attempt from Afghanistan and killed 12 men the military identified as Khwarij and Afghan Taliban, ISPR said, in a firefight that also left a Pakistani soldier dead. The account was published on 12 October 2026 by Pakistani news outlets citing the armed forces.
Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), the military's media wing, said the group included fighters it calls Khwarij — its name for the militants it is fighting — and members of the Afghan Taliban. The statement from Rawalpindi was carried by The Nation and Business Recorder. Dawn headlined the same incident and the same toll, again citing ISPR.
How the clash unfolded
ISPR said troops, already watchful, blocked the crossing. It said posts of the Afghan Taliban then fired to help the Khwarij. The release credited the troops' "precise engagement" with killing twelve people it described as Khwarij and Afghan Taliban.
The military did not name them. The soldier killed was Naib Subedar Hidayat Aman, a junior commissioned officer, aged 40 and a resident of Ghizer district. ISPR said he fought the infiltrators and was martyred in the exchange.
What the military said about Kabul
The statement cast the clash as further backing for Pakistan's complaint against the Afghan Taliban administration. ISPR said the authorities in Afghanistan had not stopped the use of Afghan territory by the organisation Pakistan is fighting and had, in the military's wording, moved to "facilitate and patronise" cross-border terrorism. The release said the administration had "failed to honour its international counter-terrorism obligations."
The Pakistani reports contain no response from Kabul. Readers so far have only the military's version of the Kurram infiltration: The Nation and Business Recorder carry the ISPR release, and Dawn's headlines match the toll of one soldier martyred and 12 killed. The reports do not give a time for the exchange or say that civilians were harmed.
Clearance operation and Azm-e-Istehkam
A sanitisation operation — a search to clear the ground — is being conducted, ISPR said, to find anyone else it described as an "Indian sponsored" Kharji still in the area. Kharji is another form, in the same statement, of the militant label Khwarij. The Indian-sponsorship allegation is the military's; the published reports do not set out separate proof.
ISPR said the broader campaign, Azm-e-Istehkam, would continue at full pace. That is the counter-terrorism effort approved by the Federal Apex Committee on the National Action Plan, carried out by the security forces and law-enforcement agencies against what the military calls foreign-sponsored militancy. The release said the soldiers' deaths reinforced a commitment to guard the frontier.
Tribute from Punjab
Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz Sharif praised the forces for foiling the Kurram infiltration and for killing 12 people she called terrorists, The Nation and Business Recorder reported. She paid homage to Hidayat Aman, condoled with his family, and called his death a sacrifice in defence of the country. ISPR said the security forces would remain resolute in defending Pakistan's borders while the campaign goes on.
