Security forces have neutralised at least 12 terrorists during the intelligence-based operation (IBO) in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Tirah Valley, the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) said on Friday.
“Since 20 August 2024, security forces are conducting extensive intelligence-based operations (IBOs) in Tirah Valley, Khyber District, on the reported presence of Khwarij,” said the military’s media affairs wing in a statement.
On August 28 and 29, troops effectively engaged the terrorists’ locations where after intense fire exchange, 12 militants of “Fitna-Al-Khwarij were sent to hell,” the military’s media wing said while referring to the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) militants.
The statement further said that these operations have resulted in a major setback to the TTP and its affiliates, adding that so far, 37 terrorists have been “sent to hell”, while 14 others have suffered serious injuries.
The military reaffirmed its commitment to restoring peace, saying that the IBOs will continue till peace is restored in the area and terrorists are eliminated, as the security forces are determined to wipe out the menace of terrorism from the country.
Earlier today, at least five terrorists were killed and three others injured during separate IBOs in Balochistan’s Kech, Panjgur and Zhob districts.
A statement issued by the ISPR said the security forces are conducting extensive IBOs to hunt down the perpetrators of the Balochistan incident.
According to the military’s media wing, the operations are being conducted in the backdrop of cowardly terrorist activities that targeted innocent civilians across Balochistan on August 26.
“On night August 29-30, in three separate IBOs in District Kech, Panjgur and Zhob, five terrorists were sent to hell by the security forces, while three terrorists got injured during the intense fire exchange,” said the statement.
Moreover, sanitisation operations will continue until all perpetrators, facilitators and abetters of these atrocious acts are brought to justice, it added.
The IBOs were launched after at least 23 passengers on Monday were killed after being offloaded from passenger buses and trucks in the Rarasham area of Balochistan’s Musakhel.
Separately, at least 10 people, including police and Balochistan Levies personnel, were martyred in a gun attack in Kalat.
Furthermore, at least 14 brave sons of soil, including 10 security forces soldiers and four personnel of law enforcement agencies (LEAs), were martyred in clearance operations, wherein at least 21 militants were neutralised.
Pakistan has witnessed a surge in militant attacks since the Taliban government returned to power in neighbouring Afghanistan in 2021, mostly in the northwestern border province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, but also in southwestern Balochistan, which abuts Afghanistan and Iran.
There were at least 170 militant attacks killing 151 civilians and 114 security personnel in Balochistan last year, according to the Pakistan Institute for Conflict and Security Studies.
Islamabad accuses Kabul’s new rulers of failing to root out militants sheltering on Afghan soil as they prepare to stage assaults on Pakistan.
Against this backdrop, the federal cabinet in June this year approved Operation Azm-e-Istehkam, a reinvigorated national counter-terrorism campaign following the Central Apex Committee’s recommendations under the National Action Plan to root out terrorism.