RAWALPINDI: Pakistan’s security forces have killed 74 terrorists in a series of intelligence-based operations in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan, the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) said on Friday.
According to the military’s media wing, 43 terrorists were killed in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in two operations carried out over the previous 48 hours. Of these, 35 were killed in Mir Ali in North Waziristan and eight in Orakzai district, following heavy exchanges of fire. The ISPR referred to the militants as belonging to “Fitna al Khawarij”, the term the state uses for the banned Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan, and described them as India-backed.
Troops recovered weapons, ammunition and explosives, including locally made explosive material and improvised explosive devices that the ISPR said were meant for use in terrorist attacks. Clearance operations are continuing in the areas to eliminate any remaining militants.
In Balochistan, security forces killed a further 31 terrorists in multiple operations carried out since 3 November, bringing the total to 74. President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif praised the security forces for the operations and vowed to continue the fight against terrorism.
Background
The operations come days after a deadly attack in Kohat in which 10 policemen were martyred. The President and the Prime Minister paid tribute to those officers and vowed to root out terrorism, as NEN reported on Thursday. On the same day, Radio Pakistan reported that security forces had killed three terrorists in Mastung, Balochistan.
Security forces have been carrying out regular intelligence-based operations in the north-west and south-west of the country, and the Foreign Office has repeatedly said that Pakistan will not hold talks with any terrorist group.
What This Means for Pakistan
Intelligence-based operations target militant hideouts before attacks can be carried out, and the recovery of explosive devices points to attacks that, according to the ISPR, were being prepared. Residents of Mir Ali, Orakzai and the affected parts of Balochistan should continue to follow instructions from local authorities while clearance operations go on. Taken together, the figures show that 74 militants were removed in roughly ten days across two provinces.
According to the ISPR, clearance operations are still under way in the affected areas.
Sources: Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), Radio Pakistan, Associated Press, Dawn
Featured image: Photo: Rizwan Ullah Wazir / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 3.0
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