MARDAN: More than 550 suspected persons including terrorists and their facilitators were arrested during the week-long operation carried out jointly by army and police in parts of Mardan and Swabi districts.

Addressing a press conference at Punjab Regiment Centre here on Tuesday,

Maj-Gen Nadir Khan, General Officer Commanding (GOC) of Malakand division, lauded the local people for their cooperation during the operation. He said that the support of local people was not only encouraging but also proved helpful to make the week-long operation a success.

Flanked by DIG Mohammad Tahir Khan, Malakand Task Force commander Col Ayub Haider and other officers of army and police, Mr Nadir Khan said that the targeted operation was carried out on the basis of intelligence reports.

“‘We have achieved all our targets successfully and cleared the areas of all kinds of suspected terrorists, their abettors and facilitators,” he said.

The official said that terrorists and militants would find no place to hide and escape if local people continued to support personnel of police and other law enforcement agencies.

He said that during the operation they took into custody more than 550 suspected persons including criminals, terrorists, their facilitators and sympathisers.

He said that over 800 illegal arms of different types and calibres were recovered from the arrested persons.

The official said that thousands of houses and Afghan camps were thoroughly searched during the operation and over 400 kg of explosives and other material along with huge amount of ammunitions were seized. He said that a large number of suspicious items including laptops, CDs, mobile phones and other gadgetries were also recovered.

Later, the recovered arms and ammunition were showed to journalists.

Mr Khan said that the operation was part of the series of action being carried out under National Action Plan throughout the country to eliminate terrorism and militancy.

After the press conference, Mr Khan interacted with the soldiers and policemen, who participated in the operation.

Published in Dawn, April 13th, 2016