Pakistani security forces have killed 22 militants during an ongoing area sanitisation operation in North Waziristan (a tribal district in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province bordering Afghanistan), the military's media wing ISPR announced on Tuesday. The operation, launched on May 17 based on intelligence leads, targeted members of Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan — which the Pakistani state officially labels "Fitna al-Khawarij" — and ISPR claimed the group was India-sponsored, recovering weapons and ammunition from the dead. The announcement comes amid a broader resurgence in militant activity across Pakistan's northwest and Balochistan since the Afghan Taliban returned to power in 2021, prompting Islamabad to intensify counter-terrorism operations under its national security initiative known as Azm-i-Istehkam.