ISLAMABAD, Pakistan — Pakistan’s military said on Monday that its forces had shot and killed a suspected Taliban operative near the Afghanistan-Pakistan border. The man, identified as Muhammad Khan Ahmed Khail, was reportedly attempting to flee from Afghanistan into Pakistan when security forces intervened.
The 48-year-old man, also known by the alias Abdullah Afghan, was described by officials as a terrorist operative from Paktika Province in Afghanistan. Security forces stated that an Afghan national identity card was recovered from his possession.
In a statement, Pakistani authorities alleged that Muhammad Khan was acting as a spy for an Afghan agency while operating within Pakistan. “Security sources disclosed that the individual was involved in smuggling weapons and ammunition from Afghanistan to arm terrorist groups within Pakistan,” the statement read.
The agency claimed that Muhammad Khan’s operations focused on transporting arms through areas including Qila Saifullah, Zhob, and Loralai. The smuggled weapons were allegedly used in terror attacks across the country.
The announcement comes as Pakistan continues to grapple with rising security challenges along its western border. The country’s Chief of Army Staff, General Asim Munir, recently emphasized the military’s ongoing efforts to neutralize threats posed by terrorist organizations operating in the region.
“Pakistan has successfully degraded the operational capabilities of terrorist organizations both within our borders and beyond,” General Munir said during a statement earlier this week. “Our forces have relentlessly pursued and eliminated key terrorist leaders, dismantled their infrastructure, and neutralized their cells, sending a clear message that terror has no place in our land. This war is ongoing, and we will see it through to its logical conclusion.”
Tensions between Pakistan and the Taliban-led government in Afghanistan remain high, with both sides trading accusations of harboring militants. While the Taliban has accused Pakistan of supporting ISIS-K operations within Afghanistan, Islamabad has repeatedly voiced concerns about the Taliban’s alleged support for the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), a group responsible for numerous attacks on Pakistani soil.
