RAWALPINDI: Security forces killed 30 terrorists, including two ringleaders during three separate intelligence-based operations across Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, the military’s media wing said on Saturday.
A statement issued by the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) said that the first encounter took place in KP’s Lakki Marwat, where an intelligence-based operation (IBO) was carried out on the reported presence of terrorists.
During the operation, security personnel engaged the terrorists, killing 18 of them and leaving another six injured, it added.
The second IBO was conducted in Karak, according to the statement. “In [the] ensuing fire exchange, eight khwarij were effectively neutralised by the security forces,” the ISPR said, using the term designating members of the Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP).
In the third encounter, security personnel conducted an (IBO) in the Khyber district’s Bagh area, where they killed four terrorists and injured two others. “Four khwarij including kharji ring leaders Azizur Rehman@ Qari Ismail and Mukhlis were sent to hell, while two khwarij got injured,” the ISPR said.
Weapons and ammunition were recovered from the slain terrorists, who “remained actively involved in numerous terrorist activities in the area against the security forces as well as killing of innocent civilians”, according to the ISPR.
“Sanitisation operations are being conducted to eliminate any other Kharji found in the area as the security forces of Pakistan are determined to wipe out the menace of terrorism from the country,” the statement concluded.
On January 17, five terrorists were killed in an IBO in the Khyber district’s Tirah area, the military’s media wing said. A statement from the ISPR said the IBO was conducted based on the reported presence of terrorists.
It added that the security forces engaged the terrorists and as a result, five, including ringleader Abidullah aka Turab, “were sent to hell” while one was apprehended.
Pakistan has been grappling with an uptick in terror activities, especially in KP and Balochistan, since the outlawed Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan broke a fragile ceasefire agreement with the government in 2022.
According to the report of the Islamabad-based think tank Pak Institute for Peace Studies (PIPS) released earlier this month, the number of terror attacks in 2024 reached levels comparable to the security situation in 2014 or earlier.
It said that terrorists no longer controlled specific territories inside Pakistan as they did in 2014, terming the prevailing insecurity in parts of KP and Balochistan “alarming”.
It said that over 95 per cent of terrorist attacks recorded in 2024 were concentrated in KP and Balochistan.
KP recorded the highest number of terrorist incidents in the country in 2024, with 295 attacks. Meanwhile, attacks by various outlawed Baloch insurgent groups, primarily the BLA and the Balochistan Liberation Front (BLF), saw a staggering 119 per cent increase, accounting for 171 incidents in Balochistan, it said.
PM and President pay tribute to security forces for eliminating 30 Khawarij
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and President Asif Ali Zardari Saturday paid tribute to the security forces for killing 30 Khawarij during different operations in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
In their separate statements, both – the PM and President appreciated the bravery of security forces in eliminating terrorists of Fitna al-Khawarij during the intelligence based operations.
They lauded the successful operations of the forces against Khawarij in districts of Lakki Marwat, Karak and Khyber.
The President and the premier said killing 30 Khawarij during different operations was a big success of security forces.
PM Shebaz and President Zardari said the operations of security forces would continue till complete elimination of terrorists.
It was a good omen that security forces carried out successful operations to wipe out terrorism, they said adding, “We have unwavering commitment to eradicate terrorists and defend the country.”
The PM and the President expressed determination to entirely erase Fitna al-Khawarij.
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