Police Kill Wanted TTP Commander in Khyber
Police killed a wanted TTP commander in Khyber during an operation on Thursday, and foiled a separate attack on a police station in Dera Ismail Khan.
Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Inspector General of Police Zulfiqar Hameed said police killed the commander, identified as Saifullah, in the Bara Sheikhhan area of Khyber district. The operation took place on Thursday, a day after 10 police personnel were killed in an attack on a police team in Kohat.
According to a Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa police statement, Saifullah was affiliated with the Fitna Al-Khawarij and was wanted by the police and the Counter-Terrorism Department (CTD) in several serious cases. He had been declared a proclaimed offender and had lived in Afghanistan for the past three years to evade arrest.
CTD records say the slain commander was involved in direct attacks on security checkpoints in the Maidanak area, as well as improvised explosive device (IED) attacks at Ali Masjid in the Jamrud area. The police statement said Saifullah had recently returned to Pakistan from Afghanistan as the commander of a terrorist formation to carry out attacks. He was killed after an exchange of fire with police.
Two police personnel sustained minor injuries in a grenade attack by the suspected terrorists during the operation. They were given first aid, the statement added.
TTP commander in Khyber killed after return from Afghanistan
IGP Hameed praised the police personnel for killing the wanted commander, saying they had saved hundreds of innocent lives.
“The police personnel who killed the Khawarij commander in a successful operation and saved hundreds of innocent lives are an asset to the nation,” he said. He added that operations would continue until the country was cleared of the last terrorist.
The killing comes a day after the Kohat attack, in which 10 police personnel, including a deputy superintendent of police and a sub-inspector, were killed. Eighteen terrorists were also killed in the exchange of fire after the police team, which was returning from an operation against illegal gold mining in the Gambat area, came under attack. Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif paid tribute to the martyred Kohat policemen after the attack.
Attack on Dera Ismail Khan police station foiled
Police also foiled an attack on Band Korai police station in Dera Ismail Khan after armed attackers rammed an explosives-laden pick-up truck into its main gate late on Wednesday night, damaging the station’s wall and a mosque, a Dera Ismail Khan police spokesperson said.
The attackers used heavy weapons during the assault but were forced to retreat after police personnel mounted an immediate and organised response. Despite the powerful explosion and the use of heavy weapons, officers were able to prevent the attackers from entering the station.
The spokesperson said the officers’ alertness, advance security arrangements and timely response had helped foil the attack. No casualties were reported, and all police personnel deployed at the station remained safe.
The Dera Ismail Khan district police officer reached the site shortly after receiving information about the attack and reviewed the security arrangements and the situation.
Police remain the main target in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa
Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa has seen a series of attacks on police personnel in recent months. On October 8, Station House Officer Daud Khan and his gunman, Farhad, were killed when armed men opened fire on a police patrol near the Karak-Kohat boundary. On September 28, three traffic police personnel were killed in Tank district, and on September 25, Counter-Terrorism Department Constable Muhammad Afaq was killed during an operation in Peshawar’s Garhi Sherdad area.
One of the deadliest recent attacks took place on September 18, when a blast followed by an assault at Kohat Police Lines killed 15 police personnel among 23 people. Two policemen were also martyred in a van firing in Swabi, in a separate attack that underlines how often police patrols are targeted in the province.
The scale of the threat has grown sharply. Attacks in Pakistan rose nearly fourfold to 2,425 in 2025 from 658 in 2022, according to Armed Conflict Location and Event Data (ACLED), a global monitoring organisation. Two security reports presented to the federal cabinet in October showed that terrorist incidents in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa had increased by 195 per cent between March 2024 and September 2026. The reports also found that 73 per cent of attacks in the province during 2026 had targeted police and security personnel, while drones and improvised explosive devices had emerged as growing threats.
The army has been deployed in the province to aid civil power, and Khyber’s approved development projects have also come under strain as security dominates the provincial agenda. Police say operations like the one in Bara will continue until the networks behind the attacks are dismantled.
Frequently asked questions
Who was killed in the Khyber operation?
Police killed Saifullah, a wanted TTP commander affiliated with the Fitna Al-Khawarij, in the Bara Sheikhhan area of Khyber district.
What was Saifullah wanted for?
He was wanted by police and the Counter-Terrorism Department in several serious cases, including attacks on checkpoints in Maidanak and IED attacks at Ali Masjid in Jamrud.
What happened in Dera Ismail Khan?
Attackers rammed an explosives-laden pick-up truck into the main gate of Band Korai police station late on Wednesday night. Police forced them to retreat, and no casualties were reported.
Were any police personnel hurt?
Two personnel sustained minor injuries in a grenade attack during the Khyber operation and were given first aid. No one was hurt in the Dera Ismail Khan attack.
Why are police being targeted in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa?
Security reports presented to the federal cabinet in October found that 73 per cent of attacks in the province during 2026 targeted police and security personnel, with terrorist incidents up 195 per cent since March 2024.
