Bangladeshi among militants killed in TTP raid in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa

Authorities in Pakistan have confirmed that one of the terrorists killed in a major security operation in Karak district, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, was a Bangladeshi national.

The identification was made after Pakistani forces recovered a Bangladeshi identity card, local currency, and other personal belongings from the body of the slain militant, according to a report by Sama TV.

Officials said the recovered items established the foreign link of the militant killed in the operation, once again underscoring the presence of foreign nationals within militant networks active in the region.

Authorities noted that this is not the first time Bangladeshi citizens have been found among militants in Pakistan. In earlier encounters, at least two or three Bangladeshis were reportedly killed. Many had initially travelled to Afghanistan under the pretext of religious preaching before becoming involved in extremist groups.

On Friday night, Pakistani security forces killed 17 members of the banned Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) during an intelligence-based operation in Karak’s Darshakhel area. Units from the Pakistan Army, Special Services Group (SSG), and the Counter-Terrorism Department (CTD) jointly conducted the mission, which lasted two days and left 17 militants dead and more than 10 wounded. At least three security personnel were injured in the exchange.

Singapore-based news portal The Dissent reported that among the dead was a 21-year-old Bangladeshi named Faisal Hossain, from Chhoto Dudkhali village in Madaripur district.

Faisal’s family said he had left home claiming he was travelling to Dubai for work at a hijama centre. His elder brother, Arman Hossain, told reporters they last spoke to him before Eid-ul-Adha, but he could not be contacted afterwards despite repeated attempts. Faisal’s father works as an electrician, while Arman is employed as a deliveryman for Daraz.

Pakistan-based journalist Jawad Yousafzai also shared photos from the site of the operation, stating that security forces recovered Faisal’s Bangladeshi ID card and other documents. Another Bangladeshi reportedly fighting for the TTP later confirmed Faisal’s death on social media by posting his photograph.

Earlier this year, on 27 April, a Bangladeshi man named Ahmed Zubair was killed in a Pakistani army airstrike in North Waziristan, which left 54 TTP members dead. According to The Dissent, at least four Bangladeshis have been killed in just over a year while fighting alongside the TTP.

In response, Bangladeshi police arrested at least two people in July on charges of maintaining links with the group.