PESHAWAR / LAKKI MARWAT: At least 12 ‘terrorists’ of the outlawed Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) were killed in a midnight intelligence-based operation (IBO) jointly carried out by members of security forces and police in Lakki Marwat district.

Official sources said on Wednesday that terrorists of the TTP’s Azharuddin group were moving from Lakki Marwat district to Tank district when a joint team blocked the road to stop the TTP convoy. When the convoy was intercepted by security forces and police personnel, the terrorists opened fire, triggering an exchange of fire.

“The truck (with terrorists onboard) was intercepted near Chuharkheil area of the district and an exchange of fire took place,” official sources said.

An official statement issued by the military’s media wing, Inter Services Public Relation (ISPR), confirmed the developments.

“Terrorists’ movement and activities were being watched by intelligence tentacles for the last one week. Terrorists were lured in by providing a vehicle for escape that was intercepted and neutralised,” the ISPR statement said.

The statement said that after the exchange of fire, a search operation was launched and apart from weapons and ammunition, Afghan currency was also recovered from the killed insurgents’ possession.

“Locals appreciated the operation and lauded efforts of Pakistan Army in eliminating terrorism,” the ISPR statement said, adding that security forces were carrying out a clearance operation in the area and identification process of the dead militants was under way.

“The process of identification of the militants is under way as some identity documents have been recovered from bodies of the militants,” official sources said.

They said that the terrorists were associated with Attiq-ur-Rehman and Azharuddin’s groups of the TTP, adding that bodies of the insurgents were later shifted to the Tajazai district headquarters hospital.

The Azharuddin group of the TTP has been actively involved in acts of terror in the area and in December last year it martyred six police personnel in the district.

The banned outfit’s activities against police and law-enforcement agencies have recently witnessed a surge with most of terror attacks taking place against armed forces, para-military forces, police check posts and police stations on the border with the erstwhile tribal districts.

The terrorists, according to senior police officials, had equipped themselves with modern gadgets — left by the US and allied forces in Afghanistan.

On January 30, around 84 people, most of them policemen, embraced martyrdom when a suicide bomber blew himself up in a mosque in the heavily-guarded Peshawar police headquarters. The attack also left 221 people wounded.

On January 14, a senior police officer along with two constables embraced martyrdom in a midnight terrorist attack, which officials believe was the first of its kind as modern gadgets had been used to target police personnel in Sarband Police Station area on the outskirts of Peshawar.

Deputy Superintendent of Police Sardar Hussain and his gunmen Irshad Khan and Jahanzeb embraced martyrdom in the attack and the TTP had claimed responsibility for it.

In November 2022, the TTP called off the ceasefire agreed with the government in June 2022 and ordered the militants to stage attacks across the country.

Published in Dawn, February 9th, 2023

Opinion

Editorial

Kurram atrocity
Updated 22 Nov, 2024

Kurram atrocity

It would be a monumental mistake for the state to continue ignoring the violence in Kurram.
Persistent grip
22 Nov, 2024

Persistent grip

PAKISTAN has now registered 50 polio cases this year. We all saw it coming and yet there was nothing we could do to...
Green transport
22 Nov, 2024

Green transport

THE government has taken a commendable step by announcing a New Energy Vehicle policy aiming to ensure that by 2030,...
Military option
Updated 21 Nov, 2024

Military option

While restoring peace is essential, addressing Balochistan’s socioeconomic deprivation is equally important.
HIV/AIDS disaster
21 Nov, 2024

HIV/AIDS disaster

A TORTUROUS sense of déjà vu is attached to the latest health fiasco at Multan’s Nishtar Hospital. The largest...
Dubious pardon
21 Nov, 2024

Dubious pardon

IT is disturbing how a crime as grave as custodial death has culminated in an out-of-court ‘settlement’. The...