SOUTH ASIA INTELLIGENCE REVIEW
North Waziristan: Womb of Terror
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.
JeM: Enduring Menace
On May 22, 2025, Sepoy Gaykar Sandip Pandurang (32) was killed, and another two soldiers were injured during an encounter with suspected Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) terrorists in the dense forests of Singhpora in the Chatroo area of Kishtwar District, Jammu and Kashmir (J&K). Joint teams of the Army’s 2 Para Special Forces, Assam Rifles, 11 Rashtriya Rifles, J&K police’s Special Operation Group (SOG), and local police launched a cordon and search operation around 7 AM [IST], based on intelligence. Terrorists opened fire as forces closed in, hitting three soldiers. One died at a nearby hospital, while two were moved to a military command hospital in Udhampur for treatment. Pakistani terrorist and JeM ‘commander’ Saifullah could be among those trapped. It is said that, after the initial contact, the four terrorists split into two groups of two each and took positions at Singhpora and Beighpora in the Chatroo area of Kishtwar District. All four are believed to be Pakistanis and were equipped with weapons such as M4 Carbines and AK-47s.
On May 15, 2025, three JeM terrorists, identified as Asif Ahmed Sheikh, Amir Nazir Wani, and Yawar Ahmed Bhat, were killed in an encounter with SFs in the Nader Tral area of Awantipora in the Pulwama District of J&K. SFs recovered three AK-series rifles, twelve magazines, three grenades, and various other war-like stores from the site.
On April 11, 2025, three terrorists, including a JeM ‘commander’, were killed in an encounter with SFs at Naidgam Forest in the Chatroo area in Kishtwar District. The killed terrorists were identified as JeM ‘commander’ Saifullah, Farman, and Basha. Each carried a reward of INR 500,000 on his head. SFs recovered a large cache of arms and ammunition, including one M4 rifle, two AK-47 rifles, 11 magazines, 65 M4 bullets, and 56 AK-47 bullets, along with caps, medicines, first aid material, and socks, from the three terrorists.
According to partial data compiled by the South Asia Terrorism Portal (SATP), at least eight JeM-linked fatalities (one SF trooper and seven JeM cadres) have been recorded in J&K (data till June 8, 2025). Through 2024, 15 JeM-linked fatalities (two civilians, six SF personnel and seven JeM cadres) were recorded in the state. Since March 6, 2000, when SATP started compiling data, a total of 1,403 such JeM-linked fatalities (102 civilians, 236 SF personnel and 1,063 JeM cadres) have been recorded from across India, including 1,366 such fatalities (100 civilians, 220 SF personnel and 1,044 JeM cadres) in J&K alone.
Moreover, SFs have arrested at least four JeM terrorists/terror associates in the current year (data till June 8, 2025). On January 1, 2025, Police arrested four associates of JeM, identified as Mudasir Ahmad Naik, Umar Nazir Sheikh, Inayat Firdoos, and Salman Nazir Lone, along with incriminating materials, in the Awantipora area in Pulwama District. The arrested individuals were involved in providing logistical support and transporting arms and ammunition to active terrorists of JeM. Through 2024, 12 such elements had been arrested. Since March 6, 2000, when SATP started compiling data, a total of 460 such elements have been arrested from across India, including 390 in J&K alone.
Furthermore, a total of 14 JeM terrorists/terrorist associates have surrendered since March 6, 2000, all in J&K. The last surrender was recorded on May 29, 2019, when a JeM militant, Mohammad Maqbool Ganie, who was trapped by SFs at the Chopan Mohalla of Nagpathri Tral village in Pulwama District, surrendered before the SFs along with one Chinese pistol, one pistol magazine and six rounds of ammunition.
A scrutiny of the JeM-linked fatalities indicates that the JeM has killed 338 persons (including 102 civilians and 236 SF personnel) since March 6, 2000, across India, including 320 fatalities (100 civilians and 220 SF personnel) in J&K alone. These numbers are likely an underestimate, as the group identity of terrorists involved in a large number of killings in J&K remain unattributed, according to the SATP database.
JeM was launched on January 31, 2000. Maulana Masood Azhar, who was freed from an Indian prison as part of the terrorists-for-hostages swap on December 31, 1999, following the hijacking of Indian Airlines Flight IC 814, launched the group in Karachi, as a breakaway from his earlier outfit, the Harkat ul Ansar/ Harkat ul Mujahideen. Proselytizing, funding, recruiting, and training by JeM are all done openly in Pakistan, where Masood continues to enjoy the hospitality and support of the Pakistan Military Establishment.
On October 25, 2001, the Indian Government banned JeM in accordance with the Prevention of Terrorism Act (POTA). Soon after, ominously, JeM was responsible for the December 13, 2001, terrorist attack on the Indian Parliament in New Delhi.
Over the years, Islamabad faced increasing pressure from global watchdogs, especially the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), to crack down on terror financing and dismantle the infrastructure of jihadi outfits. Groups like JeM and the Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) have been designated as terrorist organisations by the United Nations and several major countries, including the United States. These designations were intended not only to restrict financial channels but also bring intense diplomatic heat on Pakistan. However, as part of a strategy to deflect this scrutiny, Pakistan began promoting proxy groups that lacked overt religious branding. Notably, the People’s Anti-Fascist Front (PAFF) emerged in the wake of the abrogation of Article 370 in 2019, created as a front and direct extension of JeM.
The Union Ministry of Home Affairs (UMHA) declared PAFF and all its manifestations as terrorist organisation under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA), 1967, through a notification on January 6, 2023. The notification stated,
The ‘People’s Anti-Fascist Front (PAFF)’ emerged in the year 2019 as a proxy outfit of Jaish-e-Mohammed, a proscribed terrorist organisation listed at serial number 6 of the First Schedule under the UAPA. It regularly issues threats to Indian security forces, political leaders, civilians working in Jammu-Kashmir from other states and is involved, along with other organisations, in conspiring pro-actively physically and in social media to undertake violent terrorist acts in Jammu-Kashmir and other major cities in India.
In spite of the significant decline in its capacities to strike, as is visible in the declining fatalities inflicted on SFs by the outfit over the last several years, JeM remains one of the most potent threats in J&K. Notably, it has rebranded itself while establishing a vast network, and continues to carry out covert operations. According to a May 4, 2025, report, JeM evolved its strategy to evade international sanctions and counterterrorism efforts after global bans and increased scrutiny. It now operates through proxy groups like the Kashmir Tigers, Kashmir Freedom Army (KFA) and PAFF. Significantly, since the emergence of PAFF, the proxy outfit has been attributed with at least 14 fatalities (10 SF personnel and four PAFF cadres). Further, the Kashmir Tigers have also claimed responsibility for attacks in the Doda and Kathua Districts in July 2024, signalling their active presence.
Moreover, the May 4, 2025, report discloses that JeM is trying to tighten its grip through social fronts and covert infrastructure in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Jammu and Kashmir (PoJK). Its proxy outfits also continue their mission to destabilise Kashmir while masking their affiliations. These offshoots operate under social covers like madrasas and hijama (cupping therapy) centres. Islamic preaching networks are used to recruit, train, and radicalise individuals while avoiding exposure.
Meanwhile, the May 4, 2025, report also revealed that Balakot in Pakistan is a key operational base for the JeM’s activities, more specifically the Jamia Ayesha Siddiqui Lillbanat Islamia madrasa, which is managed by Abdul Majid Sulimani, a senior Jaish ‘commander’, code named Majid Sulimani. The madrasa serves as a recruitment and logistics hub for the Kashmir Tigers and KFA, with plans to expand infrastructure, while its funding is managed by Sulimani’s UK-based brother Qazi Shabir, who channels donations from Saudi Arabia, UAE, and Pakistan. JeM and its proxies have strong connections with the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) and its refugee management cell (RMC), which is run by Col. Raheel in Muzaffarabad and offers safe haven, meat, vegetables, as well as logistics supplies. A letter from Sulimani to RMC, dated back to 2024, in which he specifically asks for assistance with ‘business’ operations, reflects this.
Further, a May 5, 2025, report, CNN-News18, noted that Sulimani received arms and subversive training from various camps located in Abbottabad, Mansehra, and Bahawalpur. He also underwent training at religious centres associated with JeM. As a senior ‘commander’ within the JeM outfit, Sulimani has been closely working with new offshoots of the group, the Kashmir Tigers and the KFA.
It is useful to recall here that, following barbaric slaughter at the Baisaran Maidan near Pahalgam in the Kashmir Valley on April 22, 2025, India carried out a strike on terrorist launch pads in PoJK and terrorist centres in Pakistan under ‘Operation Sindoor’, during which Maulana Masood Azhar’s brother, Abdul Rauf Azhar, the ‘deputy chief’ of the outfit, the mastermind behind the 1999 IC-814 hijacking, and a senior member of JeM, was killed. He was eliminated in Pakistan’s Bahawalpur after India struck nine terrorist targets in Pakistan and PoJK on May 7, 2025. Further, JeM ‘chief’ Masood Azhar divulged that 10 of his family members and his four close associates were killed in the ‘Operation Sindoor’. Masood’s family members were at the Markaz Subhan Allah, located at NH-5 (Karachi-Torkham Highway) on the outskirts of Karachi Mor in Bahawalpur District of Pakistan’s Punjab province.
Despite significant losses to the JeM, the group continues to pose a substantial threat to J&K and across the country. After ‘Operation Sindoor’, a May 28, 2025, report, revealed that JeM leaders have vowed vengeance against India, through articles published in the in-house digital magazine, Medina, Medina. Further, videos of the speeches made by JeM leaders have also been republished, together with speeches made during the burial of the kin of ‘chief’ Masood killed in the air strike on May 7, 2025. Abdul Rauf Asghar, brother of JeM ‘chief’ Masood Azhar and in-charge of the outfit’s military operations, has warned:
We never target the innocent, and have never hit inhabited areas of cities. But [Prime Minister Narendra] Modi, listen, if you do not stop the massacres of ordinary Muslims, the Fidayeen of the Jaish will raid your streets and lanes, and unleash rivers of blood. For every dead Muslim, we will leave behind the bodies of ten dead Hindus.
May 11, 2025, report disclosed that JeM’s Kashmir Tigers and PAFF are currently operational across urban and rural zones of the Kashmir Valley, with increasing footprints in the Jammu region as well, particularly in Doda, Rajouri, Poonch, and Reasi. They remain highly active in recruiting and radicalising youth, primarily via Telegram channels and private chat forums, to radicalise youth and plot high-profile attacks.
Meanwhile, according to an April 23, 2025, report, at least 56 foreign terrorists are currently active in J&K, of which 18 are from the JeM, 35 from LeT, and three from Hizbul Mujahideen (HM).
JeM is one of the top three terrorist organisations in J&K and the entire nation. Since the rise of the proxy groups Kashmir Tigers, KFA, and PAFF, there has been a discernible shift. On the surface, these various organisations seem secular, political, and even ‘liberal’ in their language, rather than actively working for the jihadi ideology and terrorist movement of JeM. In actuality, however, they are only repackaging existing tactics, serving as fronts for their jihadi directors based in Pakistan, who are attempting to conceal their Islamist affiliations and evade international sanctions as they continue with their terrorist mobilization and activities.
Weekly Fatalities: Major Conflicts in South Asia
June 2-8, 2025
Provisional data compiled from English language media sources.