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ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s security forces killed eight militants in an intelligence-based operation in the restive northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, the military’s media wing said on Friday, vowing to completely eliminate extremist violence from the country.

The operation in the Tank district led to a heavy exchange of fire with militants that Pakistan claims are backed by neighboring India who frequently launch attacks on security forces, law enforcement personnel and civilians. New Delhi denies the claim.

Pakistan has witnessed a sharp increase in militant violence in KP, which borders Afghanistan, and struggled against groups like the proscribed Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), an umbrella network of various armed groups, which the government calls “khwarij.”

The term is rooted in early Islamic history and used to describe an extremist sect that rebelled against legitimate authority and declared other Muslims to be apostates.

“On 24 October 2025, on reported presence of Khwarij belonging to Indian Proxy, Fitna al Khwarij, Security Forces conducted an intelligence based operation in Tank District,” the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) said in a statement.

“During the conduct of operation, own troops effectively engaged khwarij locations, and after an intense fire exchange, eight Indian sponsored khwarij were sent to hell.”

Weapons and ammunition were also recovered from the slain militants, it continued, adding that a “sanitization operation” was underway to eliminate any remaining militants in the area.

Last week, the government said Pakistan had killed 30 TTP militants in multiple operations in North Waziristan, South Waziristan and Bannu districts of KP.

Earlier this month, 19 TTP militants and 11 security personnel, including a lieutenant colonel and a major of the Pakistan Army, were also killed in an overnight gunbattle in KP’s Orakzai district.

Islamabad accuses the Afghan Taliban of allowing the use of their soil to carry out attacks inside Pakistan, though Kabul denies the allegation. 

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s new Foreign Office spokesperson Tahir Andrabi on Friday said Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s upcoming visit to �������� next week will focus on boosting economic investment, finalizing existing projects and setting a roadmap for future cooperation.

Sharif will visit Riyadh from Oct. 27-30 to attend the ninth Future Investment Initiative (FII) conference launched in 2017 by ��������’s Public Investment Fund under Vision 2030.

The forum brings together global leaders, investors and innovators to explore investment opportunities and advance technologies such as artificial intelligence, robotics and green finance.

Pakistan and �������� have long enjoyed close ties but have sought to broaden cooperation in recent years, including a defense pact signed in Riyadh during the prime minister’s visit on Sept. 18 and 34 memorandums of understanding worth $2.8 billion across multiple sectors last year.

“��������’s visit has a significant economic investment component,” Andrabi said at his debut media briefing.

“I am sure it will lead to further streamlining the already agreed, worked out projects between the two countries and also chart future trajectory of projects on the horizon.”

Asked whether Chief of Army Staff Field Marshal Asim Munir would accompany Sharif, Andrabi said he was “not aware” of it.

“Maybe as we are closer to the visit, we will know who is accompanying the prime minister,” he added.

�������� has long been a key source of economic support for Pakistan, providing a $3 billion deposit with the State Bank of Pakistan, repeatedly rolled over — most recently in December 2024 — and deferred oil payments of about $1.2 billion under a facility agreed in February 2025 to ease short-term financial pressures.

The recently signed defense pact between the two countries formalized decades-old security ties and stipulated that an attack against one would be considered an attack on both.

The two nations share longstanding ties rooted in faith, mutual respect and strategic cooperation, with Riyadh remaining a key political and economic partner of Islamabad.

It also hosts over 2.5 million Pakistani expatriates, the largest source of remittances for Pakistan’s $407 billion economy.