ISLAMABAD: Security forces in Pakistan on Saturday vowed to eliminate militant groups operating in the country after two soldiers lost their lives in an improvised explosive device (IED) explosion the northwestern region bordering Afghanistan.
Pakistan has witnessed a surge in militant violence since November when a proscribed militant network, Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), unilaterally called off a fragile ceasefire with the government and resumed its attacks against the country’s security forces and civilian population.
The group’s leadership is said to be based in Afghanistan, making the administration in Islamabad ask the interim Taliban government in Kabul not to allow its soil to be used against the interests of other states in the region.
“On 8 April 2023, an improvised explosive device exploded on vehicle of Security Forces in general area Bara, Khyber District,” the military’s media wing, ISPR, said in a statement. “Resultantly, Naib Subedar Hazrat Gul (age 37 years, resident of Lower Dir) and Sepoy Nazir Ullah Mehsud (age 34 years, resident of South Waziristan) embraced Shahadat [martyrdom].”
“Pakistan’s Security Forces are determined to eliminate the menace of terrorism and such sacrifices of our soldiers further strengthen our resolve,” it added.
The statement also informed the security forces were carrying out “sanitization of the area” to eliminate any militants who may be hiding there.
The IED blast in Khyber tribal district came only a day after Pakistan’s National Security Committee announced to launch “an all-out comprehensive operation” against militants hiding in the country who have been generating violence in the provinces of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan in recent months.
