Insurgency in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa

The **Insurgency in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa** is an insurgency in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, northwest Pakistan. It involves the United States, United Kingdom, Pakistani military and Pakistani tribes against the Taliban, al-Qaeda and Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant. The main reason for the conflict was tensions breaking out between Pakistan Armed Forces and al-Qaeda in 2004. 3117 Pakistani armed forces members have been killed, as well as 235+ tribe members and 15 United States soldiers. 17742 insurgents have been killed or captured.

During 2004, S.A.S. soldiers were ordered to take out a renegade police officer. Two men were caught by the police and taken back to the station. Tempers had already been running high because of an arrest by soldiers who had turned out to be agents working in the Taliban.

In 2023, the National Security Committee of Pakistan, under the leadership of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, decided to launch a new military operation to eliminate militants who pose a threat to the western regions of Pakistan.

## Related pages

- List of ongoing armed conflicts

## Infobox (military conflict)

- **conflict**: Insurgency in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa
- **partof**: The War on terror, Global War on Terrorism and the
spillover of the War in Afghanistan (2001–2021)
- **image**:
- **caption**: Naval Intelligence of Pakistan, Intelligence map: Navy intelligence maps shows the districts of the Federally Administered Tribal Areas, FATA in blue and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa in green.
- **date**: 16 March 2004present
()
- **place**: Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province (including the former Federally Administered Tribal Areas), Pakistan
- **status**: List of ongoing military conflicts, Ongoing
* Low-level insurgency
* Large number of insurgents killed while some fled to Afghanistan
* Heavy insurgent losses and substantial reduction in insurgent activity
* Tribal areas merged into Pakistan, Frontier Crimes Regulation, tribal law abolished
 and Constitution of Pakistan, writ of constitution established as of 2018
* Reduction of Drone strikes in Pakistan, drone strikes conducted by the United States in Pakistan
* Jundallah (Pakistan), Jundallah, Tehreek-e-Khilafat, Jamaat-ul-Ahrar, and the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan join Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, ISIL
* Jamaat-ul-Ahrar rejoins the TTP
- **combatant1**: ***'
 (see list of drone strikes in Pakistan, drone strikes in Pakistan)
- **combatant2**: **Taliban-aligned groups**
*  Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan
*  al-Qaeda
*  Lashkar-e-Jhangvi
* Lashkar-e-Islam
* Jundallah (Pakistan), Jundallah
* Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan
* Jamaat-ul-Ahrar
*  Tehreek-e-Nafaz-e-Shariat-e-Mohammadi
*  Turkistan Islamic Party
 **ISIL-aligned groups**
* Khorasan Province (Militant Group), Khorasan Province
** Jundallah (Pakistan), Jundallah
** Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan
** Jamaat-ul-Ahrar
- **commander1**: Pervez Musharraf
 Ashfaq Kayani
 Asif Ali Zardari
 Nawaz Sharif
 Mamnoon Hussain
 Arif Alvi
 Raheel Sharif
 Qamar Javed Bajwa
 Imran Khan
 Masood Aslam
 Tariq Khan (general), Tariq Khan
 Rao Qamar Suleman
 Tahir Rafique Butt
 Sanaullah Niazi
- **commander2**: Noor Wali Mehsud
  Maulana Fazlullah
  Khan Said, Khan Said 'Sajna'
 Adnan Rashid
 Mangal Bagh
 Hakimullah Mehsud
 Abdullah Mehsud
 Baitullah Mehsud
 Maulvi Nazir
Faqir Mohammed
Nek Muhammad Wazir
Abdul Rashid Ghazi
Sufi Muhammad
 **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
---
 **ISIL**
 Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi
 Hafiz Saeed Khan
Abdul Rahim Muslim Dost <small>(2014–2015)</small>
Usman Ghazi
 **IMU Group**
Usman Ghazi
Tohir Yo'ldosh, Tohir Yuldashev
 Najmiddin Jalolov
Abu Usman Adil
Mirzazhanov Atoyevich
- **strength1**: **Pakistan**
 200,000 Pakistani troops
Unknown no. of air squadrons of Navy and Pakistan Air Force fighter jets, including JF-17 Thunder, JF-17 and F-16 jets
~10,000 Frontier Corps
---
**United States**
 UAV drones
Special Activities Division, CIA operatives
United States special operations forces, U.S. Special Forces
- **strength2**: ~25,000 Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan, TTP militia
~2,000 Lashkar-e-Islam militia
~1,000 Tehreek-e-Nafaz-e-Shariat-e-Mohammadi, TNSM militia

300–3,000 al-Qaeda militants
---
***'
* Jundallah: 12,000–20,000 <small>(disputed)</small>
* IMU: 500–1,000
- **casualties1**: **Pakistan**:
4,631 Pakistan Armed Forces, soldiers and Law enforcement in Pakistan, LEAs killed <small>(per SATP)</small>
8,214 killed soldiers and LEAs and 14,583 wounded <small>(per the Watson Institute for International and Public Affairs, Watson Institute; by mid-2016)</small>
---
**United States**:
15 soldiers killed (2010)
- **casualties2**: List of Taliban fatality reports in Pakistan, 29,398 militants killed <small>(per SATP)</small>
31,000 killed <small>(per the Watson Institute; by mid-2016)</small>
- **casualties3**: 9,394 civilians and 1,946 unidentified killed <small>(per SATP)</small>
22,100 civilians killed <small>(per the Watson Institute for International and Public Affairs, Watson Institute; by mid-2016)</small>
45,369 killed overall <small>(per SATP)</small>
61,549 killed overall <small>(per the Watson Institute; by mid-2016)</small>
41,819 killed overall all over Pakistan <small>(Uppsala Conflict Data Program; 1989–2019)</small>
---
Over 3.44 million civilians displaced (2009)
Over 6 million civilians displaced (2003–2019)
- <small>(2008–10)</small>
[[Nadir Zeb]] <small>(2010–12)</small>
**[[Chief of Air Staff (Pakistan)|Air Chief]]**
[[Tahir Rafique Butt]] <small>(2012–present)</small>
[[Tanvir Mahmood Ahmed|Tavier Ahmad]] <small>(2006–09)</small>
[[Rao Qamar Suleman|Rao Suleman]] <small>(2009–12)</small>
**[[Chief of Naval Staff (Pakistan)|Naval Chief]]**
[[Muhammad ZakaUllah]] <small>(2014–present)</small>
[[Afzal Tahir]] <small>(2005–08)</small>
[[Noman Bashir]] <small>(2008–11)</small>