Security forces on Tuesday successfully concluded an operation launched to oust militants of the banned Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), who have been holed up at a Counter-Terrorism Department (CTD) center in Bannu with six hostages since Sunday.
According to sources in the Bannu administration, seven security officials—including a major—were injured in the assault, while all six terrorists were killed. They said a clearance operation was still underway in the city to locate and apprehend or eradicate any remaining militants.
Militants belonging to the TTP took control of the CTD center late on Sunday, seizing weapons from their captors and taking them hostage. In a statement issued to media, they demanded “safe passage” to either North or South Waziristan, although the government said they had demanded freedom to travel to Afghanistan.
Prior to the operation, the TTP had said that the “only way to save the Army personnel and prison staff taken hostage is to accept the prisoners’ demands and let them go to North or South Waziristan.” The banned group had further maintained that its fighters had been instructed to not surrender to authorities if their demands were not accepted. In subsequent video statements issued from the CTD center, detainees had urged ulema and tribal elders to resolve the situation through dialogue, warning that the situation could otherwise devolve into bloodshed.
According to locals, the situation in Bannu remained tense throughout Monday and Tuesday. They said the cantonment area where the CTD center is located had been sealed off, with security forces directing residents to remain indoors. Later, security forces also imposed a curfew on roads leading to North Waziristan and Bannu, with the deputy commissioner saying all government and private educational institutions in the city would remain closed on Tuesday.
Reacting to the TTP’s demands, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa spokesman Muhammad Ali Saif said the government would not comply with any of them and warned them to surrender or face the consequences. “There was no attack on the CTD center from outside,” he said, adding the situation was currently “under control.”
There has been a marked surge in incidents of terrorism across Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa since the TTP announced last month that it was ending a ceasefire with the government. Apart from attacks on security forces, politicians and traders have complained of extortion, stressing that they have been warned of bombings targeting them if they don’t pay the militants.
Officially, per police in KP, around 118 terrorist incidents were reported in the province from mid-August through November, resulting in the deaths of 26 policemen, 12 other law enforcement personnel, and 17 civilians. Additionally, 18 policemen, 10 civilians, and 37 security forces personnel were injured.