Pakistan forces kill three militants in anti-terror ops, day after deadly attacks in Kurram
Representative image Photograph:( Reuters )
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The operations come a day after Pakistan witnessed one of the deadliest attacks on its soil this year. Militants launched a gun attack on passenger vans in KP’s Lower Kurram area, killing at least 42 people and injuring 30 others.
The operations come a day after Pakistan witnessed one of the deadliest attacks on its soil this year. Militants launched a gun attack on passenger vans in KP’s Lower Kurram area, killing at least 42 people and injuring 30 others.
Pakistani forces Friday (Nov 22) launched intelligence-based operations (IBOs) in the Bannu District of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) province, leading to death of three militants and injuries to two others. The operations were launched under Pakistan’s so-called Azm-i-Istehkam initiative, in response to a sharp rise in terror activities in provinces like KP and Balochistan.
The operations come a day after Pakistan witnessed one of the deadliest attacks on its soil this year. Militants launched a gun attack on passenger vans in KP’s Lower Kurram area, killing at least 42 people and injuring 30 others. The convoy of more than 200 vehicles was moving from Parachinar to Peshawar when it came under heavy gunfire.
Pakistan’s Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) in a statement said Friday that the IBOs were launched in Bannu District in the early hours of November 22 on the “reported presence of khwarij”.
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“During conduct of the operation, own troops effectively engaged khwarij location, as a result of which, three khwarij were sent to hell while two khwarij got injured,” the statement read.
In July, the Pakistan government issued directions to use the term khariji (outcast) when referring to the perpetrators of militant activities in the South Asian government. The same month, it banned Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) as Fitna al Khawarij.
The ISPR added that a cache of weapons, ammunition and explosives was also recovered from the dead individuals, saying, “the terrorists remained actively involved in numerous activities against security forces as well as target killing of innocent civilians.”
The statement added that a sanitisation operation was being carried out by the Pakistani forces “to eliminate any other khariji found in the area.”
(With inputs from agencies)
