Operation Khyber | |||||||
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Part of Insurgency in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and the War on terror | |||||||
Khyber Agency is the yellow colored region | |||||||
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Belligerents | |||||||
Pakistan |
Lashkar-e-Islam[1] Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant – Khorasan Province[2] | ||||||
Commanders and leaders | |||||||
Prime Minister Army Chief Chairman JCSC DG ISI Muhammad Zakaullah |
Mangal Bagh † Mullah Fazlullah † Omar Khalid Khorasani † | ||||||
Units involved | |||||||
| Unknown | ||||||
Casualties and losses | |||||||
During Operation: 4 killed[6] (as of 3 January 2015) 11 injured[6] |
In Pakistani offensive: 280+ killed[6] (as of 3 January 2015) 400 surrendered[6] |
Khyber was the code-name for a 2014–2017 military offensive conducted by Pakistan's military in the Khyber Agency in four phases; Khyber-1, Khyber-2, Khyber-3 and Khyber-4.
Khyber Agency was among Pakistan's seven semi-autonomous tribal districts near the Afghan border, rife with insurgents and militants. Terrorist organisations including Al Qaeda and ISIS have had presence there. The plains of Bara held strategic significance for militant groups as they connect the agency to the outskirts of Peshawar. The key area also straddled the NATO supply line into Afghanistan. The region has been long fought over by a mix of militant organisations, including the Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), the Ansar ul Islam and Mangal Bagh's Lashkar-e-Islam.