Pakistan’s security forces have killed 15 militants belonging to the India-backed Fitna-al-Khawarij group in two separate counterterrorism operations in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, according to the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR). The operations, conducted on November 15 and 16 in Dera Ismail Khan and North Waziristan, were based on intelligence reports. In the first raid in Dera Ismail Khan’s Kalachi area, 10 militants, including senior commander Alam Mehsud, were killed. A second operation in Datta Khel, North Waziristan, eliminated five more militants. Security forces continue to pursue others who fled the scene. Pakistan’s President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister congratulated the forces, calling the elimination of India-supported terrorists a matter of national consensus. The government uses the term ‘Fitna-al-Khawarij’ to refer to the banned Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP). The development follows a recent suicide bombing in Islamabad claimed by the TTP that killed 12 and injured 27.