By Staff Reporter
ISLAMABAD: The military said on Thursday security forces killed 22 militants in an intelligence-led operation in the northwestern district of Dera Ismail Khan, the latest in a string of deadly confrontations as the country intensifies a counterterrorism campaign along its border with Afghanistan.
The operation, carried out in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province, targeted members of “Fitna al Khawarij,” the term Pakistani authorities now routinely use for the banned Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan. The Inter-Services Public Relations, the military’s media wing, described the militants as “Indian Proxy Fitna al Khwarij.”
“During the conduct of [the] operation, own troops effectively engaged the khawarij location and after an intense fire exchange, 22 khawarij were sent to hell,” the ISPR statement said.
A sanitisation operation is underway to clear the area of any remaining militants, the military added, pledging that the “relentless counter-terrorism campaign under vision ‘Azm-i-Istehkam’”, a renewed military push approved by the government’s top security committee, would continue “at full pace to wipe out the menace of foreign-sponsored and supported terrorism from the country.”
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif praised the security forces for the “successful operation,” his office said in a brief statement.
The announcement came just two days after the military said troops killed another 22 militants during a similar operation in the nearby district of Bannu.
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, which shares a long and porous border with Afghanistan, has borne the brunt of a sharp rise in militant attacks since the Afghan Taliban returned to power in Kabul in 2021. The TTP, which shares ideological affinity with the Afghan Taliban but is a separate organisation, has stepped up assaults on security forces, police checkpoints, and government officials.
Earlier Thursday, militants attacked a police checkpoint in Hangu district in the same province, killing three officers, local officials said. Pakistan has repeatedly accused Afghanistan of providing safe haven to TTP militants and has charged that India supports anti-Pakistan militant groups, allegations both Kabul and New Delhi reject.
Tensions between Pakistan and Afghanistan flared into open clashes last month along the border, prompting a fragile cease-fire brokered in Doha on Oct. 19. Despite the truce, cross-border friction remains high, with both sides trading accusations of supporting militant activity.
Copyright © 2021 Independent Pakistan | All rights reserved
