QUETTA: At least nine suspected militants were killed and four security personnel injured in a gun battle between security forces and members of banned militant organisations during an operation in Qabo-Koh-i-Mehran area of Mastung district, 65km off here, on Thursday.

Official sources said that the Counter-Terrorism Department of police force along with other law enforcement agencies cordoned off the Qabo-Koh-i-Mehran after receiving information about the presence of a hideout of militants in the mountainous area.

The sources said that the militants opened fire on the security forces when they penetrated the area. The security forces took position and retaliated. A heavy exchange of fire continued for several hours and culminated in the death of nine suspected terrorists and injuries to four personnel of security forces.

Four security personnel injured in gun battle

A security official said that the terrorists, who died on the spot, belonged to different banned organisations that were involved in terror attacks in Quetta and other areas of Balochistan.

The Islamic State militant group was using the hideout along with other terrorist outfits,” security sources said.

“A heavy cache of arms and ammunition, including a huge quantity of explosive, rockets, grenades, rocket launchers and suicide jackets, was recovered from the hideout of the militants, the sources said.

The injured security personnel were taken to a military hospital and the bodies of the militants were shifted to the Civil Hospital in Quetta for identification.

Meanwhile, Balochistan Chief Minister Jam Kamal Khan Alyani has expressed satisfaction at the successful operation and praised the CTD and other security forces for eliminating the terrorists.

“Despite sacrificing their lives, the moral of the security forces is high, they are standing against terrorists like rocks and have proved that they cannot be defeated,” the CM in a statement.

Terming terrorism a cancer for the society, he said that the entire nation stood with security forces which in their fight against terrorism.

Mr Alyani said that anyone who was involved in the killing of innocent people would be chased and ultimately brought to justice.

“There is no room for terrorism in Balochistan,” he said, adding that terrorists would not succeed in finding a safe haven anywhere in the province.

Published in Dawn, May 17th, 2019