ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s security forces lost two soldiers while carrying out an intelligence-based operation in the country’s northwestern Buner district on Saturday, during which a high-value militant target was killed and two of his accomplices were injured.
Pakistan has witnessed an uptick in militant violence for well over a year after the banned militant network, Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), called off a fragile ceasefire with the government in November 2022.
Since then, there has been a resurgence of deadly suicide bombings targeting security forces, political rallies and Chinese workers, primarily in the western provinces of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan, which are situated adjacent to Afghanistan.
“On 13 April 2024, security forces conducted an intelligence based operation in Buner District, on reported presence of terrorists,” the military’s media wing, ISPR, announced in a statement.
“During the conduct of operation, after an intense fire exchange, HVT [high-value target] Terrorist ring leader Saleem [alias] Rabbani was [killed], while two other terrorists were injured,” it added.
The ISPR said the targeted militant was involved in several militant activities against the security forces as well as extortion and target killings of civilians.
It continued that he was wanted by the law enforcement agencies and the government had fixed a bounty of Rs5 million on him.
“During the operation, two brave sons of soil, Lance Havildar Mudassar Mehmood (age-36 yrs; resident of district Rawalpindi) and Lance Naik Haseeb Javed (age-27 yrs; resident of district Poonch, AJ&K), having fought gallantly, embraced Shahadat [martyrdom],” the ISPR said.
The statement informed the security forces were carrying out sanitization operation in the area to eliminate any other militants found in the area.
Military says two soldiers, militant leader killed in operation in Pakistan’s northwest
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Military says two soldiers, militant leader killed in operation in Pakistan’s northwest
- The operation was conducted after security forces received information on militant presence in Buner district
- The militant killed in the operation was involved in extortion and target killings, with a bounty of Rs5 million
Pakistan say Australia ‘best’ World Cup preparation amid participation doubts
- Pakistan will decide whether it will participate in upcoming T20 World Cup or not
- Australia arrived in Pakistan today for three-match T20I series starting Thursday
LAHORE: Pakistan take on Australia in a three-match Twenty20 international series starting in Lahore from Thursday, despite doubts over their participation in next month’s World Cup in cricket’s shortest format.
The country’s cricket chief Mohsin Naqvi will announce a final decision on taking part in the mega event either on Friday or Monday.
Pakistan are protesting over last week’s decision by the International Cricket Council (ICC), which rejected Bangladesh’s demand to relocate their matches out of India over security fears.
Bangladesh are replaced by Scotland in the 20-team event, which runs from February 7 to March 8 with Sri Lanka as co-hosts.
However, despite the doubts, the Pakistan team was preparing for the World Cup with skipper Salman Agha stressing the importance of the Australia series.
“These three games will give us an idea how prepared we are for the World Cup,” Agha told a news conference on Wednesday. “Australia is a top team and will give us the best final preparations.”
Pakistan are placed in Group A alongside defending world champions India, the United States, Namibia and the Netherlands.
Pakistan’s spearhead Shaheen Shah Afridi returns to full fitness after injuring his knee in the Big Bash League in Australia this month.
“We need to see how many boxes we tick in the series which are important for the World Cup as we aim to do well and win the Cup,” Agha said.
A 17-member Australian squad led by Mitchell Marsh arrived in Lahore early on Wednesday, with the last two matches set for January 31 and February 1.
The Australians are without the injured quartet of Pat Cummins, Josh Hazlewood, Tim David and Nathan Ellis, while allrounder Glenn Maxwell was rested to manage workload.
Marsh still believes Australia were ready for the World Cup tune-up series.
“These are very important times in both teams’ preparations for the World Cup,” said Marsh, whose team will be in Group B with Sri Lanka, Oman, Ireland and Zimbabwe.
“This is a very important series as the conditions are similar and that is against a quality side, so we will assess the situation and be clear about our plans ahead.”
