Security forces kill two militants in Pakistan’s northwestern province

A Pakistani army soldier mans a position at the Pakistan-Afghanistan border near Big Ben post in Khyber district in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province August 3, 2021. (AFP/File)
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Updated 11 October 2023
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Security forces kill two militants in Pakistan’s northwestern province

  • The ISPR an intelligence-based operation was carried out in Kulachi in which a known militant commander lost his life
  • The second encounter took place in Miran Shah where a militant hideout was targeted and another combatant was killed

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s security forces killed two militants after carrying out two separate operations in the country’s northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, the army’s media wing, ISPR, said in a statement issued on Tuesday.

Both operations were carried out on the night of October 9 and led to intense exchange of fire. The first intelligence-based operation was conducted in general area of Kulachi in Dera Ismail Khan district where a known militant leader, Ikram, was killed after heavy fighting.

The second encounter took place in Miran Shah, located in North Waziristan district, where a militant hideout was targeted and led to the killing of another combatant.

“[Ikram] remained actively involved in numerous terrorist activities against the security forces including the recent terrorist attacks on Police Station Hathala & Rori Police Check Post,” said the ISPR statement.

“Weapons and ammunition were also recovered from the killed terrorists,” it continued.

The ISPR said the residents of both areas appreciated the operations and “expressed their full support to eliminate the menace of terrorism” from the country.

Pakistan has witnessed a surge in militant violence in recent days.

Much of the militant activity has taken place in the western provinces of Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa that border Afghanistan.

The two provinces have also experienced major suicide attacks in recent weeks, targeting religious congregations that killed nearly 60 people.


Pakistan’s Sindh orders inquiry after clashes at Imran Khan party rally in Karachi

Updated 2 min 47 sec ago
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Pakistan’s Sindh orders inquiry after clashes at Imran Khan party rally in Karachi

  • Khan’s PTI party accuses police of shelling to disperse its protesters, placing hurdles to hinder rally in Karachi 
  • Sindh Local Government Minister Nasir Hussain Shah vows all those found guilty in the inquiry will be punished

ISLAMABAD: The government in Pakistan’s southern Sindh province has ordered an inquiry into clashes that took place between police and supporters of former prime minister Imran Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party in Karachi on Sunday, as it held a rally to demand his release from prison. 

The provincial government had granted PTI permission to hold a public gathering at Karachi’s Bagh-i-Jinnah Park and had also welcomed Sohail Afridi, the chief minister of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province where Khan’s party is in power, when he arrived in the city last week. However, the PTI cited a delay in receiving a permit and announced a last-minute change to a gate of Mazar-i-Quaid, the mausoleum of the nation’s founder. 

Despite the change, PTI supporters congregated at the originally advertised venue. PTI officials claimed the party faced obstacles in reaching the venue and that its supporters were met with police intervention. Footage of police officers arresting Khan supporters in Karachi were shared widely on social media platforms. 

“A complete inquiry is being held and whoever is found guilty in this, he will be punished,” Sindh Local Government Minister Nasir Hussain Shah said while speaking to a local news channel on Sunday. 

Shah said the PTI had sought permission to hold its rally at Bagh-i-Jinnah in Karachi from the Sindh government, even though the venue’s administration falls under the federal government’s jurisdiction. 

He said problems arose when the no objection certificate to hold the rally was delayed for a few hours and the party announced it would hold the rally “on the road.”

The rally took place amid rising tensions between the PTI and Pakistan’s military and government. Khan, who remains in jail on a slew of charges he says are politically motivated since August 2023, blames the military and the government for colluding to keep him away from power by rigging the 2024 general election and implicating him in false cases. Both deny his allegations. 

Since Khan was ousted in a parliamentary vote in April 2022, the PTI has complained of a widespread state crackdown, while Khan and his senior party colleagues have been embroiled in dozens of legal cases.