Security forces have killed 22 terrorists and injured 18 others in various intelligence-based operations (IBOs) across the Tirah valley in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Khyber district since December 14, the military’s media wing said on Thursday.
A statement issued from the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) said: “Of late, numerous terrorist incidents have occurred in general area Tirah, Khyber district against security forces as well as the innocent civilians, resulting in several casualties.”
Subsequently, the ISPR said security forces were conducting extensive IBOs in the area against terrorists, due to which 22 were “successfully neutralised” and 18 injured since Dec 14. The ISPR added that the IBOs would continue till peace in the area was restored and the terrorists were eliminated. “Security forces of Pakistan are determined to wipe out the menace of terrorism from the country,” it concluded.
Separately, one soldier was martyred while four others were injured when a convoy of vehicles carrying food and medical supplies to Parachinar was attacked at the Bagan area in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Lower Kurram on Thursday, according to officials.
Clashes stemming from decades-old land disputes claimed at least 130 lives since November, with food and medicine shortages reported due to weeks-long road blockades. A peace agreement was signed on January 1, but the route connecting Parachinar remained blocked. On January 4, a government convoy was attacked near Bagan, injuring Kurram’s deputy commissioner and leaving the convoy stranded.
Hangu Assistant Commissioner (AC) Saeed Mannan told the media that a convoy comprising 35 vehicles had left from Thall and was on its way to Parachinar when it came under fire.
“The administration is working to bring the situation under control after the attack in Bagan,” AC Mannan said.
Meanwhile, Additional Deputy Commissioner Shaukat Ali said: “One soldier `was martyred and four were injured in the attack. Three vehicles in the convoy were damaged.
“Action was also taken against the terrorists of the attack. Six terrorists were killed and 10 were injured in the retaliatory action.”
Sajid Turi, a former federal minister from Kurram, said small and large weapons were used in the attack.
Senior police official Sahaib Gul confirmed to AFP that following the attack, 21 trucks retreated from the area while others remained stranded.
Additionally, intense gunfire erupted at two other locations after the incident and it is still ongoing, Gul said, adding that some trucks had “caught fire” as a result of the ambush. Kurram Deputy Commissioner Muhammad Ashfaq Khan told AFP that “firing is ongoing” outside Thall.
