The Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) on Friday said 10 terrorists were killed in two separate engagements in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa a day earlier.
In a statement, the military’s media wing said the terrorists belonged to India-sponsored Fitna al Khwarij—the state’s designation for terrorists of the banned Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan.
It said the first encounter resulted from a group of terrorists attempting to attack security forces’ checkposts in the Azam Warsak area of South Waziristan. “The attempt was effectively thwarted by own troops. During ensuing fire exchange, eight khwarij were sent to hell through effective and precise engagements by own troops,” it said.
“In another encounter that took place in Dir district, own troops successfully neutralized two more khwarij,” it said, adding weapons and ammunition were seized from the slain terrorists, who remained “actively involved in numerous terrorist activities in the area.”
According to the ISPR, sanitization operations are ongoing to eliminate any remaining terrorists from the area. It said the counterterrorism campaign would continue at full pace to wipe out “the menace of foreign sponsored and supported terrorism from the country.”
In separate statements, President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif praised security forces for eliminating the terrorists and commended their professionalism.
“The nation stands with its brave security forces and law enforcement agencies and views their sacrifices against terrorism with utmost appreciation,” said the president. “The nefarious designs of terrorist elements active under Indian sponsorship will be thwarted at any cost,” he added.
The prime minister similarly vowed that the “nefarious designs of elements spreading terrorism under Indian patronage” would be thwarted at all costs. “The government and the entire nation stand with the security forces in the war against terrorism,” he added.
Balochistan IBOs
A day earlier, the ISPR had announced security forces killed 12 terrorists affiliated with Fitna al Hindustan—the state’s term for terrorists of the Baloch Liberation Army—during two intelligence-based operations in Balochistan’s Washuk and Mastung districts.
It said the operations were part of the ongoing series of intelligence-based operations under Radul Fitna-3, a sustained counterterrorism campaign aimed at eliminating Indian proxies. It said security forces had detected the movement of six terrorists in Washuk district on Aug. 5, engaging them effectively. Following a precise operation, all six terrorists were killed.
Separately, on Aug. 6, six more terrorists were killed in Mastung district after an intense exchange of fire between security forces and the militants. The forces also destroyed a terrorist hideout during the operation.