Description: The Pakistani military has reported they have conducted raid operations in three separate districts in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province killing more than 19 terrorists, members of the Pakistani Taliban. The operation was conducted in the Banu, North Waziristan and Mohmand districts where security and military forces were confronted by a larger group of armed militants. President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif commended the military and security forces, pledging to intensify the crackdown on terrorist organizations across Pakistan’s border with Afghanistan.
Impact: Pakistan continues to struggle with growing domestic threats from terrorist and separatist organizations. The country has recently marked an upscale in attacks on a national level, following the deadly attacks in Balochistan earlier this month. Terrorist and separatist organizations are exploiting the strained and weakened security and military apparatus in the country which is mostly concentrated in the disputed Kashmir province and some crucial security hotspots across Pakistan’s border with Afghanistan. The country is also facing severe consequences caused by the monsoon floods on its emergency services, as multiple regions have been devastated by floods, which further strains the domestic security and emergency apparatus. The consistent instability is also increasing due to the porous security state of Pakistan’s border with Afghanistan where multiple terrorist groups such as the Islamic State, the Pakistani Taliban increase the level of attacks. Instability would persist in the long – term as Pakistan is faced with multi layered threats to its national security ranging from tensions with India to combating insurgencies in Balochistan and conducting counterterrorism operations in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.