HANGU, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa: Eight militants and six Pakistan Army personnel, including two officers, were killed in a Hangu clash on Sunday, September 20, the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) said.
ISPR said the firefight occurred between a security forces convoy and militants in Hangu district. The military said troops killed eight members of a group it identifies as Fitna al-Khawarij.
The two officers killed were Captain Abuzar Farooq, 23, from Gujranwala district, and Lieutenant Sheraz Babar, 22, from Chakwal district. Four other personnel also died during the exchange of fire, according to the military.
The remaining personnel were identified in ISPR material as Sepoy Shakeel Ahmed, Non-Combatant Ghulam Sajjad, Sepoy Hamza and Sepoy Muhammad Usman Aziz.
ISPR described the militants as belonging to an “Indian-sponsored” network. That attribution is Pakistan military’s claim; India has previously rejected Pakistani allegations that it was involved in attacks inside Pakistan.
The military said a sanitisation operation was continuing in the area to locate any other militants and linked the action to the counter-terrorism campaign under Azm-e-Istehkam.
Read: Hangu Checkpoint Attack by Militants Kills 11 Police
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa remained Pakistan’s worst-affected province for violence in the second quarter of 2026, according to the Centre for Research and Security Studies. CRSS recorded 475 violence-linked fatalities across 151 incidents in KP, while KP and Balochistan together accounted for almost 96% of nationwide fatalities during the quarter.
