Insurgency in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa
Part of the war on terror and the
spillover of the War in Afghanistan (2001–2021)
NWFP FATA.svg
Intelligence map: Navy intelligence maps shows the districts of the former FATA in blue and rest of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa in green.
Date16 March 2004 – present
(18 years, 3 months and 2 weeks)
Location
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province (including the former Federally Administered Tribal Areas), Pakistan
Status

Ongoing (Low-level insurgency)

First phase
(War 2004 – 2017)
  • (Beginning of war Order of Battle)
    • Battle of Wanna
    • Battle of Mirali
    • Operation al-Mizan
    • First Battle of Swat
    • Operation Zalzala
    • Battle of Bajaur
    • Operation Sirat-e-Mustaqeem
    • Second Battle of Swat
    • Operation Rah-e-Nijat
    • 2009 Khyber Pass offensive
    • Nizam-e-Adl Regulation 2009 (failed peace agreement)
    • Mohmand Offensive
    • Operation Black Thunderstorm
    • Orakzai and Kurram offensive
    • Operation Rah-e-Shahadat
    • Operation Khyber
    • Operation Zarb-e-Azb
Second phase(Insurgency 2017 – present)
  • (Beginning of nationwide large scale operations against insurgency)
    • Operation Radd-ul-Fasaad
    • Large number of insurgents killed while some fled to Afghanistan
    • Heavy insurgent losses and substantial reduction in insurgent activity
    • Tribal areas merged into Pakistan, tribal law abolished
      and writ of constitution established as of 2018
    • End of drone strikes conducted by the United States in Pakistan
    • Jundallah, Tehreek-e-Khilafat, Jamaat-ul-Ahrar, and the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan join ISIL
    • Jamaat-ul-Ahrar rejoins the TTP
    • Intermittent series of multilateral talks underway with groups specially with Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan
    • Ongoing (Low level)
Belligerents

 Pakistan

  • Armed Forces of Pakistan Flag.svg Pakistan Armed Forces
    •  Pakistan Army
    •  Pakistan Air Force
    •  Pakistan Navy
  • Pakistan Paramilitary Forces
    • Frontier Corps
    • Pakistan Rangers
  • Pakistani Intelligence Community
  • Former logo of Punjab Police Pakistan.svg Pakistan Police
    • Counter Terrorism Department

  •  United States (see drone strikes in Pakistan)

Insurgents

  • Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan
    • Jamaat-ul-Ahrar
    • Tehreek-e-Nafaz-e-Shariat-e-Mohammadi
    • Lashkar-e-Islam
  • al-Qaeda
  • Lashkar-e-Jhangvi
  • Jundallah (until 2014)
  • Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan (until 2015)
  • Turkistan Islamic Party (until 2015)
    Supported by:
     India(allegedly)
    • R&AW

ISIL-aligned groups

  • Khorasan Province
    • Jundallah
    • Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan
    • Jamaat-ul-Ahrar
Commanders and leaders

Shehbaz Sharif(From 2022)
Arif Alvi(From 2017)
Ashfaq Kayani
Raheel Sharif
Qamar Javed Bajwa
PakistanMasood Aslam
PakistanTariq Khan
Rao Qamar Suleman
Tahir Rafique Butt

Former:
Pervez Musharraf(until 2008)
Asif Ali Zardari(2008–2013)
Mamnoon Hussain(2013–2018)
Nawaz Sharif(2013–2017)
Imran Khan(2018–2022)
PakistanSanaullah Niazi 

Noor Wali Mehsud
Maulana Fazlullah 
Khan Said 'Sajna' 
Adnan Rashid
Mangal Bagh 
Hakimullah Mehsud 
Abdullah Mehsud 
Baitullah Mehsud 
Maulvi Nazir 
Faqir Mohammed (POW)
Nek Muhammad Wazir 
Abdul Rashid Ghazi 
Sufi Muhammad  (POW)
al-Qaeda
Ayman al-Zawahiri
Osama bin Laden 
Ilyas Kashmiri 
Mohammad Hasan Khalil al-Hakim 
Atiyah Abd al-Rahman 
Abu Laith al-Libi 
Abu Yahya al-Libi 
Abu-Zaid al Kuwaiti 
Fahid Mohammed Ally Msalam 
Sheikh Ahmed Salim Swedan 
Sheikh Fateh 
Adnan Gulshair el Shukrijumah 


Islamic State of Iraq and the LevantISIL
Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi 
Hafiz Saeed Khan 
Abdul Rahim Muslim Dost(2014–2015)
Usman Ghazi 

Islamic State of Iraq and the LevantIMU Group
Usman Ghazi 
Tohir Yuldashev 
Najmiddin Jalolov 
Abu Usman Adil 
Mirzazhanov Atoyevich (WIA)
Strength

Pakistan
200,000 Pakistani troops
Unknown no. of air squadrons of Navy and Pakistan Air Force fighter jets, including JF-17 and F-16 jets
~10,000 Frontier Corps


United States
UAV drones
CIA operatives
U.S. Special Forces

~25,000 TTP militia
~2,000 Lashkar-e-Islam militia
~1,000 TNSM militia
300–3,000 al-Qaeda militants


 ISIL

  • Jundallah: 12,000–20,000(disputed)
  • IMU: 500[citation needed]–1,000
Casualties and losses

Pakistan:
4,631 soldiers and LEAs killed(per SATP)
8,214 killed soldiers and LEAs and 14,583 wounded(per the Watson Institute; by mid-2016)


United States:
15 soldiers killed (2010)
29,398 militants killed(per SATP)
31,000 killed(per the Watson Institute; by mid-2016)

9,394 civilians and 1,946 unidentified killed(per SATP)
22,100 civilians killed(per the Watson Institute; by mid-2016)
45,369 killed overall(per SATP)
61,549 killed overall(per the Watson Institute; by mid-2016)
41,819 killed overall all over Pakistan(Uppsala Conflict Data Program; 1989–2019)


Over 3.44 million civilians displaced (2009)

Over 6 million civilians displaced (2003–2019)